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From a painting by Thomas Sully 



Benjamin Rush 



A MEMORIAL 

containing 

Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents 
in the Life of 

DR. BENJAMIN RUSH 
I 

I Born Dec. 24, 1745 (Old Style) Died April 19, 1813 

Written by Himself 

also 

% Extracts from His Commonplace Book 

\ as well as 

A Short History of the Rush Family in Pennsylvania 

Published privately for the benefit of his Descendants 



By 

LOUIS ALEXANDER BIDDLE 
Lanoraie 

I90S 



L!BH/>RY of CONGRESS 
Tw Copl»s Received 

JUN 13 1906 

CLASS €L \Xc. No, 



Copyrighted, 1905, by 

LOUIS ALEXANDER BIDDLE 

Philadelphia 



Made at the Sign of the Ivy Leaf in Sansora Street Philadelphia 



INTRODUCTORY 









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y^o <^^>i^i:rzi<^ <i^fe^^ ^/^^ Q^S^<ff ^^t^^r^U ^^, i^ 




*"01d Family Letters."— Biddle. 



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From the New York << Mirror." 



Gentlemen. — In looking over a collection of letters 
from my friends and correspondents, the following, from 
the late Dr. Benjamin Rush, arrested my attention as a 
communication of peculiar interest, and one which ought 
not to be confined to the family circle, for whose gratifi- 
cation it was communicated. 

In the first instance it was addressed to John Adams, 
the late President of the United States. In September, 
1812, the doctor enclosed me a copy of the same, intended 
to be seen only by my family and friends. Believing it 
will be perused with delight and profit by the reader of 
taste, correct feelings, and religious sentiments, I send it 
for insertion in the Mirror. 

H.* 



♦Probably Dr. Hosack of New York. 



Letter from Dr. Rush to John Adams. 



Philadelphia, July 13th, 1812. 

"My Dear Friend. — Can you bear to read a letter that 
has nothing in it about politics or war? I will, without 
waiting for an answer to this question, trespass upon your 
patience, by writing to you upon another subject. 

"I was called on Saturday last to visit a patient about 
nine miles from Philadelphia. Being a holiday I took my 
youngest son with me, instead of my black servant. After 
visiting my patient, I recollected I was within three or 
four miles of the farm on which I was born, and where 
my ancestors for several generations had lived and died. 
The day being cool and pleasant, I directed my son to con- 
tinue our course to it. In approaching, I was agitated in 
a manner I did not expect. The access was altered, but 
everything around was nearly the same as in the days of 
my boyhood, at which time I left it, I introduced myself 
to the family that lived there, by telling them at once who 
I was, and my motives for intruding upon them. They 
received me kindly, and discovered a disposition to satisfy 
my curiosity and gratify my feelings. I asked permission 
to conduct my son up stairs, to see the room in which I 
drew my first breath, and made my first unwelcome noise 
in the world, and where first began the affection and cares 
of my beloved and excellent mother. This request was 
readily complied with, and my little boy seemed to enjoy 
the spot. I next asked for a large cedar tree that stood 
before the door, which had been planted by my father's 
hand. Our kind host told me it had been cut down seven- 
teen years ago; and then pointed to a piazza in front of the 
house, the pillars of which, he said, were made of it, I next 
inquired for an orchard planted by my father. He con- 



2 Letter from Dr. Rush to John Adams 

ducted me to an eminence behind the house, and shewed 
me a number of large apple trees, at a little distance, that 
still bore fruit, to each of which I felt something like the 
affection of a brother. The building, which is of stone, 
bears marks of age and decay. On one of the stones near 
the front door, I discovered with some difficulty the letters 
J. R. Before the house, flows a small, but deep creek, 
abounding in pan-fish. The farm consists of ninety acres, 
all in a highly cultivated state. I knew the owner to be in 
such easy circumstances, that I did not ask him his price 
for it; but begged, if he should ever incline to sell it, to make 
me or one of my surviving sons the first offer, which he 
promised to do. 

"While I sat in his common room, I looked at its 
walls, and thought how often they had been made vocal 
by my ancestors, to conversations about wolves and bears, 
and snakes, in the first settlement of the farm; afterwards 
about cows and calves and colts and lambs; and the com- 
parative exploits of reapers and thrashers ; and at all times 
with prayers and praises, and chapters read audibly from 
the bible ; for all who inhabited it of my family were pious 
people, and chiefly of the sect of quakers and baptists. On 
my way home I stopped to view a family grave-yard, in 
which were buried three and part of four successive gener- 
ations, all of whom were the descendants of Captain John 
Rush, who, with six sons and three daughters, followed 
William Penn to Pennsylvania, in the year 1683. He com- 
manded a troop of horse under Oliver Cromwell ; and family 
tradition says he was personally known to him, and much 
esteemed by him as an active and an enterprising officer. 
When I first settled in Philadelphia, I was sometimes visited 
by one of his grandsons, a man of eighty-five years of age, 
who had lived with him when a boy, and who often detailed 
anecdotes from him of the battles in which he had fought 
under Cromwell, and once mentioned an encomium on 
his character by Cromwell, when he supposed him to be 
killed. The late General Darke of Virginia and General 
James Irvine, are a part of his numerous posterity; as 



Letter from Dr. Rush to John Adams 3 

the successor to the eldest sons of the family, I have been 
permitted to possess his sword, his watch, and the leaf of 
his family bible that contains the record of his marriage, 
and of the birth and names of his children, by his own hand. 
In walking over the grave-yard, I met with a head-stone, 
with the following inscription : 

"In memory of James Rush, who departed this life 
March i6th, 1727, aged forty-eight years. 

"I've tried the strength of death, at length, 

And here lie under ground, 
But I shall rise, above the skies, 
When the last trump shall sound." 

This James Rush was my grandfather. My son, the phys- 
ician, was named after him. I have often heard him spoken 
of as a strong-minded man, and uncommonly ingenious in 
his business, which was that of gunsmith. The farm still 
bears marks of his boring machine. My father inherited 
both his trade and his farm. While standing near his grave, 
and recollecting how much of my kindred dust surrounded 
it, my thoughts became confused, and it was some time 
before I could arrange them. Had any or all of my ances- 
tors appeared before me, in their homespun or working 
dresses, (for they were all farmers or mechanics), they 
would probably have looked at one another, and said, 'What 
means that gentleman by thus intruding upon us?' 

"Dear and venerable friends ! be not offended at me. 
I inherit your blood, and I bear the name of most of you. 
I come here to claim affinity with you, and to do homage 
to your Christian and moral virtues. It is true, my dress 
indicates that I move in a different sphere from that in 
which you have passed through life; but I have acquired 
and received nothing from the world which I prize so highly 
as the religious principles which I inherited from you, 
and I possess nothing that I value so much as the innocence 
and purity of your characters. 

"Upon my return to my family in the evening, I gave 
them a history of the events of the day, to which they 



4 Letter from Dr. Rush to John Adams 

listened with great pleasure ; and partook, at the same time, 
of some cherries, from the limb of a large tree, (supposed 
to have been planted by my father), which my little son 
brought home with him. 

"Mr. Pope says there are seldom more than two or 
three persons in the world who are sincerely afflicted at 
our death beyond the limits of our own family. It is, I 
believe, equally true, and there are seldom more than two or 
three persons in the world who are interested in anything a 
man says of himself beyond the circle of his own table or 
fireside. I have flattered myself that you are one of those 
two or three persons to whom the simple narrative and 
reflections contained in this letter will not be unacceptable 
from, my dear and excellent friend, yours affectionately, 

BENJAMIN RUSH. 

"To John Adams, Esq." 



A Review 



A Review 

The letter written by Dr. Rush to John Adams, of 
July 1812, only a year before his death, descriptive of his 
visit to his Homestead, (above sketched) does more to 
illustrate the character of the w^riter, and to make the reader 
acquainted with his heart than a volume of biography 
without it. I feel as I read the unadorned and simple nar- 
rative of this great man's visit to his home and the graves 
of his ancestors, a stirring at the heart and a freer and 
more joyful circulation of the spirit. There is a piety in 
it — an ardor of feeling and an attachment for the long 
buried dead — a clinging to the trees that had been planted 
by the hands long mouldered into dust, — and an enthus- 
iasm, though stilled by the holiness of the object, which 
testify the genuineness of the heart's feelings, and give 
character and immortality to him who cherished them. I 
would rather have a heart capable of feeling what -Rush felt 
when he made that visit to the home of his fathers, than to 
be borne through crowds amidst shouts and acclamations, 
as the hero of a battle in no matter what cause. 

What is like it? The world shut out, and man ming- 
ling amidst the silence of rural scenery, with his own 
reflections and with the honoured dead; — and the dead his 
own progenitors. What an absence of the tempests which 
sweep over this world's affairs ! How calm ! What a rest 
to the heart! How still is nature! The fancy only is 
busy. It realizes the employments, business, joys, sorrows, 
hopes and fears of those upon whose remains the sods rest, 
— and converses with the spirits of the departed. The spell 
broken — all around is reality. The trees that used to 
flourish once, like the hands that planted them, are gone. 
Even the "cedar" is gfone! but that has been made into 



6 A Review 

pillars to prop the roof of the colonnade. They once lived ! 
Though dead they are sound and tangible. Tell me nothing 
of political strife — of war and the glory of it — of routs and 
fashions — all fade away, or retire before the tranquil 
pleasures of such an hour as this. No wonder Rush is 
immortal. A man that gives proof of such a heart as his 
can never die. 

Dedicated to Jonathan Parry 

VIATOR 
July 4th, 1832. 



PART I 

An Account of Sundry Incidents in 

the Life of Benjamin Rush, 

Written by Himself 



A Memorial 



m 



PART I 

"There is no death for such a man — 
He is the spirit of an unclosed hook" 

WAS born on the 24th of December 1745 (old 
style) on my father's plantation in Byberry town- 
ship, Philadelphia county, about 14 miles to the 
northeast of the city of Philadelphia. The family 
from which my father sprung belonged to Oxfordshire in 
England, and came over to Pennsylvania with the first set- 
tlers under William Penn in the year 1683. They were 
Quakers. My father John Rush was a respectable and 
ingenious man and was brought up to the business of a 
gunsmith. This he pursued for a few years in the city 
of Philadelphia with a character for strict integrity in all 
his dealings. He had inherited some little property in 
Philadelphia from his mother to which by his industry 
and success in business, he made additions though not 
enough for the independent support of the family he left at 
his death. This consisted of four sons, including myself, 
and two daughters. My mother also survived him. She 
too was of English descent. She was a good woman, and 
possessed of a strong mind ; she had been educated at a 
boarding-school in Philadelphia and was well acquainted 
with the common branches of female education at that day. 
As a mother she was distinguished by kindness, generosity, 
and attention to the morals and religious principles of her 
children. 

My only surviving brother Jacob Rush (now President 
of the judicial district composed of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, and lately one of the Judges of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania) and myself were sent to a country 



lo Benjamin Rush 

school in Nottingham now in Cecil county in the State 
of Maryland, a few years after our father died. This school 
was taught by the Revd Dr. Saml Finley, afterwards 
President of the College of New Jersey, and who had mar- 
ried one of the sisters of my mother. It was then the most 
respectable and flourishing of any in the middle provinces 
of America. The character of Dr. Finley as a minister of 
the gospel and scholar is well known to thousands in this 
country, but he is less known as a teacher of an academy 
and a master of a family. Few men have ever possessed 
or displayed greater talents in both those capacities. His 
government over his boys was strict, but never severe nor 
arbitrary. It was always by known laws which were plain 
and often promulgated. The object of a law whether it 
related to great or little matters was never taken into con- 
sideration in the trial of an offender. I remember he once 
issued an order forbidding boys to throw stones at his fruit 
trees in order to obtain fruit from them. Soon afterwards 
he observed a boy flinging stones up an apple tree. He 
came up to him, and struck him with his hand on the side 
of his head. The boy remonstrated against his punishment 
and said the tree had no fruit on it, and that he was only 
amusing himself by trying to hit a decayed apple of the 
last year's growth which hung upon one of the highest 
branches of the tree. "This is no excuse for your offence 
(said the Doctor) by throwing at that decayed apple you 
injure the tree; you have moreover broken a law, which 
though apparently trifling, will lead you to break laws of 
more importance." In the infliction of punishments in his 
school he always premised them by a discourse upon the 
nature, heinousness, or tendency of the offence. Sometimes 
he made all the scholars in the school give their opinions 
upon the nature of an offence, before he gave his own, and 
now and then he obliged them to pronounce sentence of 
punishment before he inflicted it. The instrument with 
which he corrected was a small switch which he broke 
from a tree. The part he struck was the palm of the hand. 



A Memorial ii 

and that never more than three times. The solemn forms 
connected with this punishment were more terrible and 
distressing than the punishment itself. I once saw him 
spend half an hour in exposing the folly and wickedness 
of an offence with his rod in his hand. The culprit stood 
all this while trembling and weeping before him. After 
he had ended his admonitions, he lifted his rod as high 
as he could, and then permitted it to fall gently upon his 
hand. The boy was surprised at this conduct. "There go 
about your business (said the Doctor) I mean shame and not 
pain to be your punishment in the present instance." 

He took uncommon pains to promote good manners 
among his scholars. The slightest act of incivility was 
reproved. This he did at his table, in so elegant and deli- 
cate a manner as not to expose the person who was 
rebuked. He selected a number of artificial characters 
with which he connected all the usual follies and impro- 
prieties of boys. To these he gave the name of Thos. 
Broadbrim, Ned Short, Bill Slovenly, and the like. These 
characters he contrasted by the history of Johnny Courtley, 
who was an example of all that was proper, and amiable in 
the conduct of a young man. His manner of describing 
these characters was so agreeable as to fix even the most 
volatile and desultory of his boys to their chairs. Some- 
times his descriptions were interspersed with anecdotes 
that excited a burst of laughter. If in his walks and in 
his study he occasionally overheard an improper expres- 
sion, or saw an improper act in any of his boys, he never 
failed to take notice of it, at the ensuing meal, but in such 
a manner as not to excite a suspicion that a personal appli- 
cation of what was said was intended. One evening I 
recollect he dwelt chiefly upon the character of Ned Short. 
Among other things, he informed us, that he was of a 
quick temper, and very prone to give rude answers to the 
most innocent questions. "For instance (said he) if one 
of his companions asked him if he knew where his book 
was, he would answer, 'ask about.' " Here he paused — a 



12 Benjamin Rush 

blush appeared in the countenance of one of his boys, who 
had on that day given that answer to a question of a simi- 
lar nature. The Doctor did not appear to be conscious that 
the rebuke had produced its intended effect. But his table 
was not made subservient only to this mode of instruction. 
He made it a constant practice to admit his boys to eat 
with all the strangers who visited him. The benefits 
derived from the news, anecdotes, and general conversa- 
tions which young people are thus permitted to hear, are 
much greater than is generally supposed. "Conversation 
(said a wise man) is education," and one of the first gen- 
iuses in Britain has declared, that he learned more from 
the conversation of one man whom he named, than from 
all the books he ever read in his life. I could repeat an 
hundred things I heard at the table of my master, to which 
I then was constrained to lend an impatient and reluctant 
ear, but which have since become the seeds of useful knowl- 
edge. I owe my present ideas of the misery connected with 
great wealth to a dream which the Rev. Mr. Richard Treat 
related at his table when I was about twelve years old. 

He inculcated at all times a regard to the common 
forms of good breeding. For this purpose, he frequently 
exercised his pupils in delivering and receiving letters, and 
in asking and receiving favors. He extended his attention 
to forms, to the composition, folding and direction of let- 
ters. These had their rules, and were applied by him to 
different ranks, and subjects according as they were upon 
business or mere letters of friendship. 

His method of teaching the Latin and Greek languages 
was simple. He taught several of the arts and sciences 
usually taught in colleges. In these he was unfortunately 
tied down to the principles and forms that were common 
in the schools of that day. He had studied the English 
language, and taught the reading, writing and speaking 
of it with great ease and success. 

In the government and instruction of his family, he 
exhibited an example of apostolical prudence, piety and 



A Memorial 13 

zeal. He read and explained the whole or part of a chapter 
of the Old or New Testament every morning and evening 
before prayers in his family: many of the remarks he made 
upon passages in the Bible, which then passed hastily 
through my mind, have occurred to me many years after- 
wards, and I hope not without some effect. He obliged 
all the boys who lodged in his house to commit the shorter 
catechism of the Church of Scotland to memory, and to 
repeat it every Sunday evening. Upon each of the answers 
he made pertinent and instructing or pious remarks. He 
likewise obliged all the members of his family to repeat 
what they remembered of the sermon they had heard at 
church. I cannot commend this practice too highly. It 
created habits of attention and recollection. I was much 
struck in observing how much we improved in the knowl- 
edge we brought home of the sermon, by exercise. Two 
of his scholars, I recollect, frequently gave, between them, 
every idea mentioned in a sermon. 

V Trhe instructions of Sunday evening were usually closed 
by delivering in a plain way some of the most striking and 
intelligible evidences of the truth of the Christian religion. 
Many of his arguments, upon these occasions, though 
clothed in simple language, were the same which are to 
be met with in the most logical writers upon that subject, 
and to the impression they made upon my understanding, 
I ascribe my not having at any time of my life ever enter- 
tained a doubt of the divine original of the Bible. I wish 
this mode of fortifying the reason of young people in the 
principles of Christianity were more general. The impres- 
sions which are made upon their fears, or their faith by ser- 
mons and creeds soon wear away, but arguments fixed in 
the understanding are indelible. They operate upon the 
judgment, and this process of the mind we know to yield 
as necessarily to the impression of truth, as vision in a 
sound eye succeeds impression from the rays of light. 

One more branch of education remains to be men- 
tioned which was taught in the Doctor's family, and that 



14 Benjamin Rush 

is practical agriculture. All his scholars shared in the 
labors of harvest and hay-making, I bear on one of my 
fingers to this day the mark of a severe cut I received in 
learning to reap. These exercises were both pleasant and 
useful. They conduced to health, and helped to implant 
more deeply in our minds the native passion for rural life. 
Perhaps it may be ascribed in part to their influence, that 
not a single instance of death, and not more than two or 
three of sickness occurred in the Doctor's family during 
the time I lived in it which was five years. The family 
seldom consisted of less than thirty persons. 

The comfort and reputation of a boarding school 
depends so much upon the conduct of the wife of its master, 
that the account I have given would be defective without 
mentioning that my aunt (with a small deduction on 
account of the irritability of her temper occasioned or 
heightened by bad health) was eminently qualified for her 
station. She was industrious, intelligent, frugal, and in 
every other respect a good housewife. She possessed infor- 
mation upon many subjects and some wit, which rendered 
her agreeable in conversation. She kept a plentiful table of 
country food dressed in a pleasant manner. The record of 
this fact will not appear trifling to those who know that 
the appetite is the ruling principle in young people, and 
that no advantages in point of education will ever be duly 
appreciated where it is not pleased, nor any acts of injus- 
tice, committed by boarding schools, remembered with less 
forgiveness, than scanty or ill dressed meals. I quit the 
history of this delightful haunt of my youth with reluct- 
ance. There is not a fruit tree, nor a rivulet of water on it 
that was not dear to me. Some years after I left it, I rode 
several miles out of my way to visit it. I rambled with 
a melancholy pleasure, slowly over the fields and meadows 
and orchard, in which I had shared with my master and 
schoolmates in rural labors and festivity. I sat down in 
the dining room of the old mansion house, and stood silent 
and motionless for a considerable time in the school house 



A Memorial 15 

which was then used as a weaver's shop. Most of the 
members of that once happy family are now no more. 
Seven out of eight of Dr. Finley's children sleep with their 
father and mother in the grave. Many of my schoolmates 
filled important stations, and discharged the duties of use- 
ful professions with honor to themselves and benefit to 
their country. I avoid naming them lest I should do injus- 
tice by omitting any. 

One thing only damps the review of the time I spent at 
this school, and that is, that I profited so much less than I 
might have done from all the opportunities I enjoyed of 
literary and moral instruction. An education at a country 
school has many advantages, but it has one disadvantage, 
which operates with peculiar force upon city boys, and that 
is the facility with which the amusements of hunting, gun- 
ning and the like are to be obtained is so great as to over- 
power the relish for study. From much reflection upon 
this subject I am satisfied that it would be wise in country 
schoolmasters to forbid those amusements altogether. 
Rural employments might easily be substituted in their 
room. These establish early ideas of a connection between 
industry and property and they lay a foundation for those 
agricultural pursuits or pleasures which are often the result' 
of necessity or of independence and leisure. 

The mind of a boy could as soon cease to exist as cease 
to be active. Shut out from play, it retreats of choice to 
study. One of the most accomplished scholars I ever knew 
was an idle boy until he was fourteen years of age. He 
always ascribed his fondness for books to his being con- 
fined for bad behaviour two or three days in his grand- 
father's library. To obviate the ennui of idleness, he took 
down a book which he found entertaining. He read it 
through, by which means he suddenly acquired a taste 
for reading and knowledge that continued during the 
remainder of his life. 

In taking leave of the school and family of my vener- 
able preceptor, I have only to add, that he died in the city 



1 6 Benjamin Rush 

of Philadelphia in the month of July in the year 1766 in the 
51st year of his age. I sat up with him every other night 
for several weeks, and finally performed the distressing 
office of closing his eyes. The annals of Christian biog- 
raphy do not furnish an instance of more patience in sick- 
ness, nor of a greater triumph in death. His conversation 
for several days before he died was elevated, pious and 
eloquent in the highest degree. It was carefully recorded 
by one of his attendants, and afterwards published by Mr, 
Aitkins, in the "United States Magazine." The character 
and manners of this excellent man commanded respect and 
affection from his numerous pupils. I never met with one 
of them, who did not admire, esteem and love him. Some 
of them have expressed their respect for his memory in 
terms bordering upon idolatry. His picture forms a part 
of the furniture of my house.* 

In the spring of 1759 and in the fifteenth year of my 
age, I was removed from Dr. Finley's school to the College 
of New Jersey where, after an examination by two of the 
tutors, I was admitted into the junior class. The pro 
tempore President of the College at that time, was the 
Rev. Jacob Green. He was succeeded in the month of 
August by the Rev. Samuel Davies, who had been elected 
some time before President of the College, This gentle- 
man surmounted the disadvantages of scanty circumstances 
and a confined education by the strength and activity of a 
great and original genius. He was in most respects "Faber 
sua fortuna" that is, in the language of the world, a "self- 
made man." His reputation for classical literature, phil- 
osophy and oratory, were such as recommended him to the 
trustees of the College many years before, to undertake a 



* My classmates at this school were the Rev. Charles Cummins and Joseph 
Alexander of South Carolina, Dr. Williams of Virginia, Dr. John Archer of 
Maryland, and Dr. Thomas Ruston and Ebenezer Hazard of Philadelphia, all 
of whom are now living — July, 1800. A similar instance of seven persons con- 
nected in any way, living 44 years after being separated, and m a country that 
had been exposed to war and pestilence, has not probably often occurred in any 
part of the world. 



A Memorial 17 

mission to Great Britain to solicit contributions to build 
and endow the College. This mission was executed with 
success. His intercourse when abroad with the most emi- 
nent scholars and divines enlarged his mind and he became 
better qualified for the station he was now called to fill. 
He seemed to have been made for it. To a handsome per- 
son, he united the most elegant and commanding manners. 
He was truly dignified, but at the same time affable and 
even familiar in his intercourse with his pupils. He intro- 
duced subjects of instruction into the College and gave to 
the old branches of education a new and popular com- 
plexion. It was my happy lot to attract a good deal of his 
attention. He thought I discovered some talents for poetry, 
composition and public speaking, to each of which he was 
very partial. The facility with which I committed his les- 
sons to memory made so agreeable an impression upon him, 
that he gave me credit for much more capacity than I pos- 
sessed. Those who knew me at that time remember me 
only as an idle, playful, and I am sorry to add — sometimes 
a mischievous boy. While I lament that my improvements 
here, as at Dr. Finley's school, were by no means equal to 
my opportunities, I hope I shall be excused in acknowledg- 
ing that this mode of teaching inspired me with a love of 
knowledge, and that if I derived but little from his instruc- 
tions, I was taught by him how to acquire it in the subse- 
quent periods of my life. I learned from him to record in a 
book which he called "Liber Selectorum" such passages in 
the classicks as struck me most forcibly in reading them. 
By recording those passages I was led afterwards to record 
facts and opinions. To this I owe perhaps in part the fre- 
quent use I have made of pen and ink. I have constantly 
associated them with every book I have read — sometimes 
by making extracts from them, but more frequently by 
making references to them in a common place book, or by 
making marks, or indexes in them. This method of read- 
ing I know is condemned by some people, and memo- 
randum books have been called by them the destruction of 



1 8 Benjamin Rush 

memories, but I have not observed this to be the case in 
myself nor in some others who have adopted it in a greater 
extent than I have done. "Studium sine calamo somnium," 
was the saying of one of the ancient poets. Recording 
facts has the usual effect of repetition. Instead of produc- 
ing an oblivion of them, it imprints them more deeply in 
the memory. 

In the month of September 1760, I was admitted to 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Before I left College, 
Mr. Davies asked me what profession I intended myself for. 
I told him I had been advised to study the law. He 
approved of the advice, and added that he "believed I 
should make a better figure at the bar than in the walks of 
a hospital." This opinion fixed my determination, and my 
mother in consequence of it applied to a lawyer in Phila- 
delphia to take me into his office. Previously to my sitting 
down to study, I was prevailed upon to accompany one of 
my old schoolmates on a visit to his family in Somerset 
county in Maryland. On my way there and back again I 
stopped a few days at Dr. Finley's Institute. Before I took 
leave of him on my return home, he called me to the end of 
the piazza and asked me whether I had chosen a profes- 
sion. I told him I had, and that I expected to begin the 
study of the law as soon as I returned to Philadelphia. He 
said the practice of the bar was full of temptations, and 
advised me by no means to think of it, but to study physic. 
"But before you determine on any thing (said he) set apart 
a day for fasting and prayer and ask of God to direct you 
in the choice of a profession." I am sorry to say I neg- 
lected the latter part of this excellent advice, but yielded 
to the former, and accordingly obtained from Mr. Davies, 
whom I saw soon afterwards in Philadelphia, a letter of 
recommendation to Dr. John Redman to become his pupil. 
On what slight circumstances do our destinies in life seem 
to depend! all my friends objected to my choice. One of 
my classmates wrote me a long letter full of remonstrances 
against it, and reminded me of the credit I had acquired at 



A Memorial 19 

the College as a public speaker. There were periods in my 
life in which I regretted the choice I had made of the pro- 
fession of medicine, and once, after I was thirty years of 
age, I made preparations for beginning the study of law. 
But Providence overruled my intentions by an event to be 
mentioned hereafter. I now rejoice that I followed Dr. 
Finley's advice, I have seen the hand of heaven clearly in 
it. This fact is recorded to shew that our feelings some- 
times mislead us, as well as our reason, and that we often 
regret having done or omitted things which time discovers 
to have been most for our interest, or for the benefit of our 
fellow-creatures. I might have acquired more fortune and 
rank in life in the profession of the law, and probably have 
escaped much of the vexation and distress that are con- 
nected with the practice of medicine, but I am sure I have 
been more useful in the latter profession, and therefore 
acquiesce in my lot, and were I to choose an employment 
over again, a conviction of suffering all the persecution 
that has followed me for my opinions and practice would 
not alter my predilection for medicine. In the month of 
February 1761, I began the study of medicine, and con- 
tinued constantly in my master's family and shop 'till July 
1766. During this period I was absent from his business 
but eleven days, and never spent more than three evenings 
out of his house. My master at this time was in the most 
extensive business of any physician in the city, and as he 
had at no time more than two apprentices, he kept them 
constantly employed. In addition to preparing and com- 
pounding medicines, visiting the sick and performing many 
little offices of a nurse to them, I took the exclusive charge 
of his books and accounts. It may not be amiss to men- 
tion here that before I began the study of medicine, I had 
an uncommon aversion to such sights as are connected 
with its practice. But a little time and habit soon wore 
away all that degree of sensibility which is painful, and 
enabled me to see and even assist with composure in per- 
forming the most severe operations in surgery. The con- 



20 Benjamin Rush 

finement and restraint which were now imposed upon me 
gave me no alternative, but business and study, both of 
which became in a short time agreeable to me. I read in 
the intervals of business and at late and early hours all the 
books in medicine that were put into my hands by my 
master, or that I could borrow from other students of medi- 
cine in the city. I studied Dr. Boerhaaves' lectures upon 
Physiology and Pathology with the closest attention, and 
abridged a considerable part of Van Swieten's commen- 
taries upon his practical aphorisms. I kept a commOn place 
book in which I recorded everything that I thought curious 
or valuable in my reading and in my master's practice. To 
him I am indebted for the estimation in which I have 
always held the works of Dr. Sydenham. He put them 
into my hands soon after I went into his shop, and fre- 
quently alluded to his opinions and practice, particularly 
in the treatment of Epidemics. However laborious and self- 
denied my situation was during my apprenticeship, I owe 
much to it. It produced in me habits of industry and busi- 
ness which have never left me. It rendered diseases in all 
their forms and symptoms familiar to me, and gave me a 
facility in knowing them which is to be acquired in no other 
way. During my residence in Dr. Redman's shop, he was 
one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania Hospital by 
which means I was admitted to see the practice of five 
other physicians besides his own in the hospital. It was 
during this time likewise that the medical school of Phila- 
delphia was founded by Dr. Shippen and Dr. Morgan. I 
attended the lectures of the former on Anatomy in 1762 
and 1765 and of the latter on Materia Medica in the last 
of those years. 

In the month of August 1766, I sailed for Liverpool on 
board the ship Friendship of which Capt. Pierce was mas- 
ter, with a view of proceeding from thence to Edinburgh in 
order to prosecute my studies in medicine. My fellow 
passengers were Jonathan Potts, whose pursuits and place 
of destination were the same as mine, and a certain James 



A Memorial 21 

Cummins, a young Scotch merchant whose fortune and 
health had been impaired in the West Indies, and who was 
on his way to his parents in the North of Scotland. Our 
passage was stormy and dangerous. We were nearly lost 
on the coast of Ireland, and the next day narrowly escaped 
being wrecked at Hollyhead on the coast of Wales. I was 
a stranger to our danger in both instances 'till it was over, 
when the Captain informed us of it by ascribing our safety, 
to use his own words, "to that Being whose tender mercies 
are over all His works." These expressions were not the 
only ones which were uttered by our Captain during our 
voyage that indicated his reverence for his Maker and a 
belief in his providence. Every part of his conduct was 
moral, and his commands and conversation always free 
from swearing and profanity. He had been educated he 
once informed me by a pious mother. 

On my voyage I suffered much from sea sickness. The 
only permanent relief I obtained was from laudanum. 

Two nights before we arrived in Liverpool, Mr. Cum- 
mins awoke the Captain, Mr. Potts and myself with a cry 
of great distress. The Captain asked him what was the 
matter. To this he answered for a while only in groans, 
and finally said he had been terrified by a dream, but 
refused to tell what it was. In the morning after I had 
retired from the breakfast table to the deck, he told the 
Captain and Mr. Potts that he did not choose to tell his 
dream in the night lest I should hear it, but that he imag- 
ined we had arrived in Liverpool, that two days afterwards 
I had fallen from a horse, and was killed by a fracture of 
my skull, — that I appeared to him after my death and bid 
him prepare to follow me, for that he was to die in a few 
days. In October 1766 we arrived safely in Liverpool, 
and were kindly entertained by several families to whom 
we had letters of introduction. Two days after our 
arrival we visited a large glass house. In coming out of 
it Mr. Cummins complained of being indisposed and left 
us. In the evening when we returned to our lodgings we 



2 2 Benjamin Rush 

found him abed and asleep. We all lay in one room, but 
in different beds. At twelve o'clock he awoke us with a 
noise like a person in convulsions. We called for candles 
and flew to his relief. By opening a vein we checked his 
fits, and apparently restored him to reason, but in spite of 
all our efforts to recover him not only by ourselves, but by 
one of the oldest physicians in the town whom we called to 
our assistance, he died the next evening. This was to us 
both a most afflicting event, for he became very dear to us, 
by our fellowship in dangers. We shewed our respect for 
him by burying him at our own expense in a graveyard 
belonging to an Episcopal church in the town. This 
expense was afterwards honourably reimbursed by his 
father. 

The day after his interment I went into a shop nearly 
opposite to our lodgings to pay for some of the articles 
of the last dress of our friend. The lady who attended 
entered into conversation with me upon the melancholy 
subject of my errand to her shop. She inquired where I 
was going. I told her to Edinburgh, she told me she had a 
nephew of the name of John Bostock a student of medicine 
there, to whom she politely offered to give me a letter, and 
at the same time invited me to take tea with her in the 
afternoon. I accepted the invitation and was introduced 
by her to the mother of her nephew who was then in 
mourning I believe for her husband. Their conversation 
was elegant and instructing. The death of Mr. Cummins 
gave it a serious cast. Mr. Bostock's aunt repeated an ode 
after tea, which contained a most striking and highly poet- 
ical picture of the state of the body and mind in the last 
hours of life. I have in vain sought for this ode in collec- 
tions of poetry. It was superior to Pomfret's much admired 
poem upon the same subject. This short account of the 
manner in which I became acquainted with Mr. Bostock 
will be connected with an event which will form a con- 
siderable part of the history of my principles and conduct 
in a future period of my life. 



A Memorial 23 

I left Liverpool in October with my friend Mr. Potts 
and passed through Lancashire, Westmoreland and Cum- 
berland. On our way to Edinburgh, at the tavern 
at Penrith in Cumberland where we lodged, our host 
spoke in high terms of his parish Minister who he 
said often visited travellers who passed through the town. 
We expressed a desire to see him. Soon afterwards a 
venerable old gentleman was introduced to us. He sat 
down and conversed for about an hour, during which time 
he discovered more knowledge in the questions he asked of 
our own country than either of us possessed. He had never 
been out of England nor far from home, and yet he 
appeared to be minutely acquainted with everything that 
related to the countries of which he spoke. He made an 
apology for leaving us at an early hour by saying it was 
Saturday night, and that he was obliged to prepare for the 
exercises of the ensuing day. His name was Bunkle. 

We arrived in Edinburgh about the first of November 
and fixing ourselves in lodgings, obtained tickets of admis- 
sion to the different lectures. The medical professors at 
that time were Drs. Monroe, Cullen, Black, Gregory and 
Hope. I attended this season the lectures on Anatomy, 
Chesmistry, the institutes of medicine and natural philos- 
ophy and the practice of the infirmary. 

Finding myself less acquainted with classical and phil- 
osophical learning than was necessary to comprehend all 
that was taught in medicine, I employed the summer 
months in reviving my knowledge of the Latin language 
and studying the mathematics under a private tutor, in 
each of which I advanced with a rapidity and pleasure I 
never had known before. It is because those branches of 
learning are taught too early in life, that they are so little 
relished or so imperfectly understood by young men. Dur- 
ing this summer and part of the autumn I likewise made 
myself master of the French language, and acquired so 
much knowledge of the Italian and Spanish languages as 
to be able to read them. I was taught the French by a 



24 Benjamin Rush 

man of uncommon genius of the name of Coumans, who 
strictly forbade me to commit a grammar rule to memory. 
He obliged me from the beginning to read and translate 
passages from a French book and to write a French ver- 
sion every day. This I could not do without the help of a 
grammar. By referring to its rules, at the time I required 
their application, they adhered to my memory without the 
least act of my will to imprint them there, so that at the 
end of one month I could repeat them with great facility. 
I well recollect the triumph my master enjoyed over me 
in perceiving the success of his mode of teaching the prin- 
ciples of his language; for I had objected to it on the day 
I became his pupil. 

I taught myself the Italian and Spanish languages so 
as to be able to read them both to this day (July 2d, 1800) 
with tolerable facility. 

The second winter I spent in Edinburgh was employed 
in attending in addition to the before mentioned lectures 
those of Dr. Gregory on the practice of physic and of Dr. 
Hope on the Materia Medica. In June 1768, I was 
admitted to the degree of Doctor of Medicine, after having 
undergone the usual examination, and publicly defended a 
thesis on "the digestion of the food in the stomach." 

The two years I spent in Edinburgh I consider as the 
most important in their influence on my character and con- 
duct of any period of my life. 

The public lectures and private conversations of the 
Professors not only gave me many new ideas, but opened 
my mind to enable me to profit by reading and observation. 

The easy and friendly intercourse which I kept up with 
my fellow students was a constant source of excitement 
to my mind. Every meeting in the University and in the 
Infirmary and every visit and walk with them was pro- 
ductive of more or less knowledge upon some object of 
taste or science. The students of medicine at that time 
were collected from several parts of the continent of 



A Memorial 25 

Europe, as well as from every part of the British Empire, 
Dr. Frabicuis, Dr. Schunheytor, Dr. Tode of Copenhagen 
and Drs. Le Roche and Odier of Geneva (all celebrated 
names in the republic of medicine) were my cotemporaries 
in the University, so was Dr. John Brown, the ingenious 
author of the Brunonian system of physic. The last of 
these gentlemen maintained himself and a young family 
while a student by teaching the Latin language and trans- 
lating English theses into Latin for those graduates who 
were unable to do it for themselves. He was at that time 
distinguished for his wit, and by some eccentricities of 
conduct. The native Americans who composed a part of 
my profitable acquaintances were the three Dr. Browns, 
Dr. Willing, Dr. Jones, Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Blair all of 
Virginia. Drs. Faysseaux, Tucker, Baron and Chandler of 
South Carolina, Dr. Reeder and Dr. Digges of Maryland 
and Dr. Robert of New York were likewise my friends and 
fellow students in the University. Their names are still 
dear to me. Our friendships were warm and disinterested, 
for there was no competition of interest to divide us. The 
original bond of union was our native country, a principle 
which always acts with most force when the subjects of 
our patriotism are limited and when we are at a distance 
from home. 

I mentioned a little while ago the name of Mr. Bostock. 
I delivered the letter his aunt gave me in Liverpool to him, 
and soon afterwards breakfasted with him. He was well 
informed upon all subjects, particularly upon history, biog- 
raphy and Belles lettres. In the course of our acquaintance, 
he informed me that his father commanded a company 
under Oliver Cromwell. I told him that my first American 
ancestor held the same rank in Cromwell's army. This was 
a discovery of relationship between persons who had pre- 
viously behaved as strangers to each other. He now opened 
his mind fully to me, and declared himself to be an advo- 
cate for the republican principles for which our ancestors 
had fought. He spoke in raptures of the character of 



26 Benjamin Rush 

Sidney and said he once got out of his carriage in passing 
by Sidney's country house and spent several hours in walk- 
ing in the wood in which he was accustomed to meditate 
when he composed his famous treatise upon government. 
Never before had I heard the authority of kings called in 
question. I had been taught to consider them as essential to 
political order, as the sun is to the order of our solar system. 
For the first moment in my life I now exercised my reason 
upon the subject of government. More reflection led me 
to renounce the prejudices of my education upon it; and 
from that time to the present all my reading, observations 
and reflections have tended more and more to shew the 
absurdity of hereditary power and to prove that no form 
of government can be rational, but that which is derived 
from the suffrages of the people who are the subjects of it. 

This great and active truth became a ferment in my 
mind. I now suspected error in everything I had been 
taught or believed, and as far as I was able began to try 
the foundations of my opinions upon many other subjects. 
The sequel of my scepticism and investigations will appear 
hereafter. It has been said there is no such thing as a soli- 
tary error in the human mind. The same thing may be said 
of truths. They are all related and delight in society. I 
shall only add in this place, that the change produced in 
my political principles by my friend Bostock, had no effect 
upon my conversation or conduct. I considered the ancient 
order of things with respect to government as fixed and 
perpetual, and I enjoyed in theory only the new and elevat- 
ing system of government I had adopted. 

In addition to the medical society I have mentioned, I 
had the pleasure of being domesticated in several very 
amiable private families in Edinburgh. Some of them were 
persons of rank, but they were all more or less distin- 
guished for learning, taste or piety. The Rev. Dr. Erskine 
honoured me with many acts of attention and friendship. 
His heart resembled the ancient altar among the Jews. 
The fire of Christian love burned upon it with a perpetual 



A Memorial 27 

blaze.. It was my peculiar happiness likewise to be known 
to the celebrated preacher Mr. Walker. The character of 
this excellent man was once summed up in the following 

On Walker's lips persuasion dwells, 
His pious life, his eloquence excels. 

I attended his church constantly during- my residence in 
Edinburgh. His printed sermons have commanded general 
admiration, but the best of them are inferior to many that 
I have heard delivered by him. Nor let me forget to men- 
tion here the families of Mr. William and Mr. Thomas 
Hogg, bankers of Edinburgh, from whom I received many 
civilities and whose memories have been ever since dear to 
me. The daughters of the former, and the wife of the latter, 
were women of charming manners and great mental accom- 
plishments. In the house of Mr. John Caw, an officer in 
the excise, I always met with a hearty welcome. He was 
a man of uncommon worth, and never failed pleasing in 
company by well applied anecdotes and stories of which he 
possessed a fund that I have not known exceeded by any 
man. I boarded in the house of two maiden ladies of the 
name of Galloway to whose goodness I feel myself bound 
to record a tribute of respect. They had a brother, a mer- 
chant in Edinburgh, who was worthy of them. In piety 
they seem to resemble the happy family that was honoured 
with the friendship of the Saviour of the world. Mr. Gallo- 
way was a man of good education and of great general knowl- 
edge. He was to me a living dictionary. I do not recol- 
lect that I ever asked him a question upon any literary or 
philosophical subject that he did not answer to my satisfac- 
tion. In several of the families that I have named I met 
occasionally an old Highlander of plain manners of the 
name of Dougal Buchanan, who was employed to super- 
intend the printing of a translation of the Bible into the 
Erse language. This man possessed an original mind. He 
had read and thought upon many subjects. I soon found 
that an acquaintance with him would be profitable, and 



28 Benjamin Rush 

therefore invited him to visit me. He frequently amused 
me with curious facts in natural history. One day after 
attending Dr. Munroe's lecture upon the hand, he told me 
that he had been kept awake the whole succeeding night 
in admiring the manner in which the opening and shutting 
the hand are performed by means of the perforans and per- 
foratus tendons. He saw the goodness and wisdom of the 
Creator in everything. He spoke good English, but he once 
told me that he always prayed and dreamed in his native lan- 
guage. In one of his fingers he had a disease similar to that 
which takes place in a decayed tooth, when its nerve is bare. 
Such was its morbid sensibility that the least touch of it 
gave him pain, and to avoid this he generally carried the 
hand to which this finger belonged in his coat pocket. He 
had a very singular respect for the memory of his father, 
who died when he was a boy. So dear was he to him that 
he never went to bed for seven years after his death with- 
out thinking of him. He had read several of the English 
poets and particularly Young, Milton and Shakespear. His 
feelings were in unison with everything that was sublime 
in the productions of nature or art. He one day called to 
do some business with a gentleman in Edinburgh. He found 
him reading those lines under a bust of Shakespear in his 
parlour, in which he describes the destruction of our globe 
by fire. "There (said the gentleman) did you ever read 
anything so sublime as those lines before." "Yes (said the 
pious philosopher) I did ; I have a book at home in which 
there is a much more sublime passage ! the words are 'And 
I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from 
whose face the heavens and the earth fled away, and there 
was found no place for them.' " The gentleman acknowl- 
edged the truth of the remark and said he had never seen 
the sublimity of that passage in the Bible before. 

In my intercourse with company in Edinburgh, I once 
met David Hume. It was at the table of Sir Alexander 
Dick. He was civil in his manner and had no aflfectation 
of singularity about him. Sir Alexander once referred to 



A Memorial 29 

him for a fact in the history of England. Mr. Hume could 
not satisfy him. "Why (said Sir Alexander) you mention 
it in your history." "That may be (said Mr. Hume) there 
are many things there which I have forgotten as well as 
yourself." 

I met the celebrated historian Dr. Robertson at the 
table of Dr. Gregory, he was polite and entertaining in 
conversation. Before we sat down to dinner Dr. Gregory 
said grace. Upon recollecting that Dr. Robertson, a clergy- 
man, was present, he asked his pardon for having been his 
own chaplain. The Doctor told him, a Lord of Session had 
once acted in the same capacity at his table in the presence 
of his father who was likewise a clergyman. After he had 
finished his grace he looked around and saw Mr. Robertson, 
"Why, I believe the Devil is in me, only think of my saying 
grace in the presence of a clergyman." "No, my Lord, — 
said my father, — it is a sign the devil is not in you, or you 
would not have said grace." 

I was frequently made happy by the company of the 
blind poet Dr. Blacklock. He was a man of pleasant man- 
ners, and well acquainted with all the common subjects of 
literary conversation. 

It was while I was in Edinburgh that the Rev. Dr. 
Witherspoon of Paisley in Scotland was elected President 
of the College in New Jersey. Mr. Richard Stockton, one 
of the Trustees of the College, who was at that time in 
London, was appointed to present to the Doctor the minute 
of his election. This was done in Edinburgh where Dr. 
Witherspoon met Mr. Stockton. In consequence of the 
Doctor's wife's unwillingness to leave her native country 
he declined the invitation. The summer afterwards I vis- 
ited the Doctor at Paisley and spent several agreeable days 
in his family. In the course of our conversation I lamented 
often in the presence of his wife his not accepting of the 
charge of the Jersey College, and obviated such of the 
objections as had been formerly made to crossing the ocean. 
An account of her change of mind was immediately trans- 



30 Benjamin Rush 

mitted to the Trustees of the College who re-elected him. 
The Doctor with his family soon after embarked for Amer- 
ica. The College flourished under him for many years. 
He gave a new turn to education and spread taste and cor- 
rectness throughout the United States. It was easy to 
distinguish his pupils everywhere whenever they wrote or 
spoke for the public. He was a man of great and luminous 
mind. He seemed to arrive at truth, intuitively. He made 
use of his reasoning powers only to communicate it to 
others. His works will probably preserve his name to the 
end of time. 

I remained in Edinburgh, after the time of my graduat- 
ing, during the summer for the sake of attending a private 
course of lectures upon the Practice of Physic. I made a 
short excursion during this time to the countryseat of the 
Earl of Leven to whose family I had been introduced by 
Mr. Thomas Hogg. Here I beheld noble manners united 
with a public profession of religion. Order, virtue, inno- 
cence and friendship reigned throughout every department 
of the family. The neighborhood was composed of his 
Lordship's tenants, several of whom I visited. They seemed 
happy. One of them I recollect sat down one evening by 
invitation in his working dress and supped with his Lord- 
ship's family. His Lordship had eight children, all of 
whom appeared to be amiable and promising. 

I received from Lord Balgonie, the eldest son of the 
Earl of Leven, after I parted with him a gold ring which 
contained in a small circle about the size of a dime every 
word and letter of the Lord's Prayer. On the inside of 
the ring were engraved the day of the month and year on 
which I left the family-seat at Melville. 

During my residence in Edinburgh I was often struck 
in observing the moral order which prevailed among all 
classes of people. Silence pervaded the streets of that great 
city after ten o'clock at night. The churches were filled 
on Sundays. I never saw a pack of cards in either a public 
or private house. Dancing supplied the place of silence or 



A Memorial 3* 

insipid conversation in all large companies. Swearing was 
rarely heard in genteel life and drunkenness as rarely seen 
among the common people. Instances of fraud were 
scarcely known among servants. But integrity descended 
still lower among the humble ranks of life. I once saw the 
following advertisement pasted up at the door of the play- 
house/'The gentleman who gave the orangewoman a guinea 
instead of a penny last night is requested to call at the 
check office for it." This universal morality was not acci- 
dental. It was the effect of the parochial instructions of 
the clergy who were at that time a regular and conscien- 
tious body of men. I have heard with pain that a great 
change for the worse has taken place in the morals and 
manners of the inhabitants of that once truly happy city. 
Nor was I surprised at it, when I heard that the works of 
several of the most popular writers against Christianity 
were to be met with in the hands of journeyman mechanics 
of all descriptions. 

I left Edinburgh in September 1768, and travelled 
rapidly with two companions to London by land. The 
country through which we rode was highly cultivated 
and beautiful. I arrived in London the latter end of Sep- 
tember and took lodgings at a Mr. Speakman's in the 
Strand. Finding this situation too remote from the hos- 
pitals and lectures I purposed to attend, I removed in a 
few days to the house of a widow Jeffries in the Haymarket 
where I remained all the while I was in London. 

I attended the lectures and dissections of Dr. Wm. 
Hunter and Mr. Hewson in London. It was while I was 
dissecting a body by his side, Mr. Hewson succeeded in an 
experiment which proved the existence of lymphatic ves- 
sels in fishes. I attended for a while the Middlesex hos- 
pital, but followed Dr. Huck to St. Thomas's after his 
removal to that hospital. Dr. Hunter's lectures were enter- 
taining as well as instructing. In St. Thomas's hospital I 
saw an immense variety of diseases and practice. Dr. 
Akenside, the poet, was one of the attending physicians. 



32 Benjamin Rush 

He was distant and formal in his behavior to the students. 
Dr. Huck was the reverse of this, he was communicative 
and friendly. I owe much to him for many civilities. He 
introduced me to Sir John Pringle by whom I was invited 
to attend a medical conversation party held once a week at 
his house. I attended a similar meeting of physicians at 
Dr. Huck's own house on another evening of the week, and 
often dined with him in large and highly polished com- 
panies. He lived in or very near the same house in which 
Oliver Cromwell had once lived. The Doctor had acquired 
knowledge, reputation and powerful connections by having 
served many years in the British army in America and the 
West Indies, during the war which ended in 1763. He had 
been well educated and had visited all the celebrated Uni- 
versities and hospitals in Europe. With all these advan- 
tages to beget confidence, he was so modest that he seldom 
spoke, even at his own table, without blushing. He was 
polite, correct, and just in his intercourse with the world. 
In his politics he was a high-toned Royalist, and never dis- 
covered any irritability of temper, except when he spoke 
against the claims of America, or the conduct of the opposi- 
tion to the British court. He once justified bribery in the 
British Ministers to obtain a majority in the House of Com- 
mons, by saying "it was necessary to bribe the rascals in 
order to make them honest." He repeatedly said the hap- 
piest people he had seen in his travels were those who 
enjoyed the least liberty ! He was a bachelor at the time I 
knew him. Soon afterwards he married the daughter of 
Admiral Saunders, by whom he got a large estate, in con- 
sequence of which he added Saunders to his name. 

Sir John Pringle was between sixty and seventy years 
of age. He was then the favorite physician of the Queen 
and Royal family. No relaxation appeared. Dr. Franklin 
(who was his intimate friend) informed me, in his exer- 
tions to obtain knowledge. He read and wrote as much as 
when he was a young man. I well recollect the number 
and nature of the questions he asked me the first time I 



A Memorial 33 

was introduced to him. I met Dr. Garthshore, Dr. Knight, 
Dr. Fordyce, and several other respectable members of the 
medical profession at his house, from each of whom I 
always learned something that was capable of being applied 
to practical and useful purposes. 

By means of letters from Philadelphia I was intro- 
duced to Dr. John Fothergill. He gave me a general invi- 
tation to breakfast with him, whenever it suited me. I 
thankfully availed myself of this kind offer, and visited 
him once a week at eight o'clock in the morning. At nine 
he always went out. The time between those hours was 
always spent agreeably and profitably in his company. His 
sister, who was a woman of good sense and great worth, 
added to the pleasure and instruction of his table. His 
subjects of conversation were always philanthropic, and his 
manner in discussing them was animated but methodical. 
He often spoke with horror of war and lamented the pre- 
vailing custom of the English and French considering each 
other as "natural enemies." With the strictest conformity 
to the phraseology and manners of the people called 
Quakers, he was a perfectly well-bred gentleman. 

Dr. Franklin acted, while I was in London, as agent to 
several of the then American Colonies. It was my peculiar 
happiness to be domesticated in his family. He intro- 
duced me to a number of his literary friends. He once 
took me to Court with him, and pointed out to me many 
of the most distinguished public characters of the nation. 
I never visited him without learning something. I shall 
mention a proof of his kindness to me in another place. 

I had been introduced to the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, when 
a boy, in America. I saw him occasionally in Edinburgh 
and visited him frequently at his house adjoining his 
Church in Tottenham court road ; he took me to one of the 
windows of the room where we sat, and pointing to several 
small houses, said "there are my life guards. In those 
houses I maintain twelve poor widows and their prayers 
help to keep me alive." In one of my evening visits to him. 



34 Benjamin Rush 

he left me for a few minutes to read the burial service over 
one of his parishioners. The grave in which he was 
interred was near his dwelling house. I stepped to the 
window which overlooked the company that attended the 
funeral. It was after night. No object appeared to my 
sight but Mr. Whitefield clad in the white surplice of his 
Church. After reading the service in a manner peculiarly 
affecting, he delivered a short address to the company that 
surrounded the grave, in which I well recollect the follow- 
ing words : "Be not discouraged by the frowns and perse- 
cutions of the world. Your heavenly Father is not unmind- 
ful of your sufferings. When St. Stephen was stoned all 
heaven was in an uproar! The Son of God himself is 
moved at the sight. He cannot sit still. He rises from 
his throne, and stands ready to receive the holy proto- 
martyr into his arms." 

In breakfasting with him, I was much struck with the 
inscription in the bottom of his cups and saucers. They 
consisted of verses extracted from the Bible, all of which 
were expressive of the resemblance of water or food to the 
blessings of the Gospel. In my cup was the following 
verse: "With joy will we draw water out of the wells of 
Salvation" ; and in my saucer the following, "Ho, every one 
that thirsteth come, and &c. — 

After breakfast he conducted me through a private 
walk into the pulpit of his church through which we 
descended into the church. At the foot of the pulpit he 
pointed to a tombstone, under which his wife had been 
buried the summer before. "There (said he) on that cold 
marble, I spend from four to five o'clock every morning 
upon my knees." He afterwards shewed me a monument 
which he erected in honor of his wife, on the wall of the 
church. It contained her name, age and character. Were 
I to record all the original, pious, and eloquent sayings of 
this great man during my visits to him, a volume would not 
contain them. I have always thought it a peculiar happiness 
to have known him. He and Mr. Wesley constituted the two 



A Memorial 35 

largest and brightest orbs that appeared in the hemisphere 
of the church in the i8th century. Probably they were 
exceeded only by the Apostles in zeal and usefulness. I 
was not acquainted with Mr. Wesley, but I twice heard 
him preach in Edinburgh. He was more learned, but much 
less eloquent than Mr. Whitefield. The latter exhibited 
everything in his voice, countenance and action in preach- 
ing, that can be conceived necessary to constitute perfect 
oratory. 

In the Episcopal Church, I occasionally heard the Rev. 
Mr. Romaine, Mr. Madan and the afterwards unfortunate 
Dr. Dodd. They were all good preachers. Among the dis- 
senters I heard Dr. Gibbons, Dr. Conder, Mr. Brewton, 
and Dr. Fordyce. The last of these gentlemen was dis- 
tinguished for the extravagance and art of his oratory, but 
his sermons were always serious and instructing. Dr. Gib- 
bons was my acquaintance. He had been the friend and 
correspondent of my preceptor at the Jersey College, Mr. 
Davies. He shewed me a large bundle of his letters. He 
shewed me likewise many letters he had received from 
Dr. Doddridge and a Greek testament that had belonged 
to Dr. Watts in which were many notes written with the 
Doctor's own hand. 

I spent many agreeable evenings with Mr. West, a 
native of Pennsylvania, and history-painter to the King of 
Great Britain. He was friendly to all his countrymen. I 
picked up many anecdotes from his conversation of the 
King, and Royal family, also of many of the nobility of 
England. Nothing delighted him more than to talk of the 
pleasant scenes of his native country. He often spoke of 
the simple manners of the inhabitants of Chester County, 
Pennsylvania, in which he was born, and of the romantic 
walks and prospects on the river Schuylkill. He had spent 
several years in Italy in acquiring a knowledge of his pro- 
fession, and often entertained me with remarks upon the 
manners of the Italians and contrasted them with the man- 
ners of his own and other countries. I must relate one of 



36 Benjamin Rush 

the remarks. In crossing the channel at Dover, he saw 
upon the English shore, just before he reached it, two little 
boys fighting. His heart was strangely moved with pleas- 
ure at the sight. He had seen nothing like it since he had 
left America. It was the signal of a revival of integrity, 
and the open and honest operation of the passions. In Italy 
he had never seen anger break out in the face or in the fists. 
This passion always descended into the heart in that coun- 
try, and vented itself only in poison or assassination. How- 
ever painful the sight alluded to might have been at any 
other time, it is not to be complained of that it was upon 
this occasion seen with a sudden emotion of pleasure. 

Mr. West introduced me to several of the most cele- 
brated members of the Royal Academy of artists in Lon- 
don, and in particular to Sir Joshua Reynolds, by whom I 
was afterwards invited to dine with Dr. Johnson, Dr. Gold- 
smith and several other distinguished literary characters. 
Soon after the company met, it was remarked to one of 
them (Goldsmith) that the reviewers had been very severe 
upon a work he had lately published. "What then, — said 
Dr. Johnson to the gentleman, — where is the advantage 
of having a great deal of money, but that the loss of a little 
will not hurt you, in like manner where is the advantage 
of having a great deal of reputation but that the loss of a 
little will not hurt you, you can bear the censures of the 
reviewers." At dinner the Doctor spoke a good deal and 
always in a manner to command attention and respect. 
Upon being asked what his opinion was of Mr. Boswell, he 
said, "he was much given to asking questions, and that 
they were not always of the most interesting nature. For 
instance, he will sometimes ask, — Tray, Dr., why is an 
apple round, and why is not a pear so.' " He treated Dr. 
Goldsmith, who was a man of gentle and unoffending man- 
ners, with great rudeness in the course of the day. After 
dinner Mr. Eaton Wilkes, brother of John Wilkes, came 
into Sir Joshua's. Dr. Johnson and he soon engaged in a 
dispute upon the propriety of the military being ordered 



A Memorial 37 

lately to fire upon a mob in St. George's Fields, by which 
a man of the name of Allen was killed. Mr. Wilkes con- 
demned the measure and said Col. — (whose name I do not 
recollect) had said he could have dispersed the mob with- 
out firing a gun. "I have no doubt of it, — said Dr. Johnson. 
Some men have a method of quelling riots, which others 
have not, just as you have a method of defending them 
which I have not." The Doctor's conversation was highly 
respectful to religion, and though he was now and then 
offensive in his manners, I left his company under an 
impression that I had passed a day which deserved always 
to be remembered with pleasure. I once dined with Dr. 
Goldsmith in the Temple where he had rooms. He was 
entertaining, but he wanted the usual marks of a great 
and original genius. He told his company that the Vicar's 
wife in his Vicar of Wakefield, was intended for his mother. 
He repeated a number of the lines in the Deserted Village a 
year or two before it was published in a very animated 
manner. He spoke with the Irish accent. 

By means of a Dr. Bruce I was introduced to Mrs. 
Macauley, the celebrated republican historian of England. 
She invited me to her evening coterie, which met once a 
week at her house. I met there some of the first literary 
and political characters in the British nation ; among whom 
were Mr. Burgh, Sir Adam Ferguson, Captain Phipps, Lord 
Nuneham, General Webb and Mrs. Macauley's brother. 
Alderman Sawbridge. The subjects of conversation which 
were literary and political were discussed with elegance 
and good breeding. Mr. Burgh bore an active and enter- 
taining part in them. Mr. Sawbridge once said, "that the 
Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt who succeeded him, 
were alike partial to fools in their appointments, but that the 
former preferred dull fools and the latter sprightly fools." 
It was the first time in my life I had ever heard gravity 
and sprightliness separated from a supposed necessary con- 
nection with talents. I have an hundred times since seen 
the propriety of this remark. Mrs. Macauley was sensible 



38 Benjamin Rush 

and eloquent, but visionary in some of her ideas. I once 
heard her say, laws were defective in not rewarding virtue, 
as well as punishing vice. One of the company, I think 
Mr. Phipps, objected to this opinion, and said very justly 
that a good man's favorable reception by the world was 
reward enough for his virtues. I once took the liberty of 
telling her that some grammatical errors had been made 
by the printers of her history. "No (said she) they are 
my errors and not the printer's. I have constantly refused 
to have them corrected, least it should be suspected that 
my history was not altogether my own." She visited Phila- 
delphia in the year 1783, at which time she told me that 
she had had but little education, that she was a thoughtless 
girl 'till she was twenty, at which time she contracted a 
taste for books and knowledge by reading an odd volume 
of some history which she picked up in a window of her 
father's house. 

While I was in Britain, Mr. Wilkes was the object of 
universal attention. The nation was divided into his 
friends and enemies according as they espoused or opposed 
the measures of the government. Mr. Wilkes was expiating 
some political offence in Newgate while I was in London. 
My curiosity was excited to see the man that had so uni- 
versally agitated and divided a nation. Arthur Lee of Vir- 
ginia, who knew him intimately, invited me to accompany 
him to a dinner which he had prepared in prison for a num- 
ber of his friends. The company consisted of fourteen 
or fifteen gentlemen and the conversation was interesting 
and agreeable. Mr. Wilkes abounded in anecdotes and sal- 
lies of wit. He was perfectly well-bred. Not an unchaste 
word or oath escaped his lips. I was the more surprised 
at this as he had been represented a monster of immorality. 
After dinner I stept into a small adjoining room which con- 
tained his library. His books consisted chiefly of histories 
and common place literature from which I formed an indif- 
ferent opinion of his taste and judgment. A man's pictures 
and books are generally pretty correct copies of the intel- 
lectual and moral qualities of his mind. 



A Memorial 39 

By means of a letter from Dr. Gibbons I was intro- 
duced to Wm. Cromwell, great grandson to Oliver Crom- 
well and grandson to Henry Cromwell, Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland. He was a deacon of the Doctor's church and 
seemed to pass the evening of his life in innocent retire- 
ment in a small house in Hatten garden. He was at the 
time I saw him near seventy years of age. He shewed me 
his grandfather's commission appointing him Lord Lieu- 
tenant of Ireland. It began with these words, "To our 
trusty, and well beloved son." The name of O. Cromwell 
was written above this inscription in large letters. He 
shewed me likewise Oliver's watch, many of his letters and 
coins, and finally presented me with impressions upon wax 
of two of the seals which hung to his watch. The one is 
the private seal of his family arms, the other is the seal of 
the Commonwealth of England. I still possess them both. 
He had a perfect remembrance of his grand uncle Richard 
Cromwell. He stood at the head of his bed when he died, 
and walked as chief mourner at his funeral. He was at 
that time ten years old. 

I was frequently and kindly entertained by Messrs. 
Ed. and Charles Dilly, Booksellers in London. At their 
hospitable table I met with many gentlemen of literary 
characters. Indeed their book store was a kind of Coffee 
house for authors. It was at their table I met Mr. Alex- 
ander Cruden, the laborious author of the Concordance of 
the Scriptures. He had been deranged from hard study, 
but was now in good health. He spoke but once, but what 
he said struck me very forcibly. "God (said he) permits 
a great deal of the sin that is committed in this world to 
pass with impunity to convince us that there is a day of 
Judgment, but he now and then punishes it, to convince 
us that he governs the world by his Providence." 

I was indebted to another Bookseller in London of the 
name of Donaldson for many civilities. He was a Scotch- 
man of good character. He had a brother in extensive 
business in Edinburgh. 



40 Benjamin Rush 

The Rev. Mr. Coombe, a relation of mine from Phila- 
delphia, lodged in the same house with me in London, and 
was my companion in many of my visits, and walks in the 
city. We often spent the day in different circles and 
brought home in the evening the results of what we had 
seen or heard. My relation and friend possessed taste and 
memory. He went into a good deal of learned company, 
more especially of the clergy, from whom he collected 
many curious anecdotes, all of which he imparted to me 
in the most agreeable manner. He was well acquainted 
with Dr. Jortin, Dr. Heberden and Dr. Saunders. Dr. Saun- 
ders spoke often to him of the learned Dr. Samuel Clark. 
He called him a "reasoning machine." 

I never had much taste for public amusements, but if 
I had, my slender resources would have prevented my 
enjoying them while I was in London. I passed but three 
or four evenings at the Theatre, where I once heard the 
celebrated Garrick perform, and afterwards deliver an Epi- 
logue composed for the occasion, which was for the benefit 
of decayed actors. He appeared to be equal in every respect 
to his fame. While other players boiled, he alone simmered, 
was the remark a foreigner once made upon his manner 
of acting. This was strictly true. It was reported when 
I was in London that Mr. Garrick was dead ; the next day 
it was contradicted ; the day afterwards the following lines 
appeared in the newspaper, which are highly expressive of 
his talents as a speaker: 

" Garrick is dead! so prattles fame, 
" The bard replied, it cannot be; 
" Garrick, and nature are the same 
" Both born for immortality. ' ' 

The other popular players whom I saw perform were Pow- 
ell, Holland, Shutor, Weston, King, Barry and Mrs. Barry. 
The last had great merit as a speaker. I visited all the 
public buildings, institutions and shews that usually attract 
the notice of strangers. I likewise visited most of the large 



A Memorial ^^ 

and curious manufactories that were carried on in London, 
and wrote down descriptions of them. In these visits and 
observations I was once accompanied and assisted by Mr. 
Wolfe, an ingenious chemist of London. 

I once saw the King (George 3d) and his family at 
his Chapel, and once at a Levee. I saw him likewise go in 
great pomp to the House of Lords to open a session of 
Parliament. 

I once heard Lord Mansfield speak with great per- 
spicuity and elegance upon a law question in the House 
of Lords. 

I attended the House of Commons and there saw the 
celebrated speakers Col. Barre and Mr. Burke. Neither 
of them spoke while I was in the House of Commons. 

I went once into Westminster Hall, but was not so 
happy as to hear any of the first lawyers speak at the bar. 
Lord Mansfield presided in the court. 

I spent several hours in Westminster Abbey, and in 
viewing the curious objects in the tower. A description of 
both is to be met with in books. I shall therefore pass them 
over in silence. 

I visited no place with half so much pleasure as the 
British Museum. Everything rare and curious in nature 
or art was exhibited there. My friend Dr. B of Mary- 
land who accompanied me in my visit to this place, upon 
seeing anything that struck him suddenly, had a habit of 
exclaiming, "God bless my soul." "I hope he will," said 
Dr. Gifford, the keeper of the Museum. "Do what," said 

Dr. B "Why, bless your soul; — was it not that you 

prayed for?" Dr. B was confused and made no reply. 

The whole company seemed struck with the reproof. 

Many characters have been given of the English nation. 
To different people the same objects often appear in dif- 
ferent forms or colors. There was in my view at the time 
I was in London, a variety in the manners of the people of 
England, as great as their ranks and occupations. The 
nobleman, the commoner, the country gentleman of large 



42 Benjamin Rush 

and moderate fortune, the common farmer, the merchant, 
the shopkeeper, the tavernkeeper, the tradesman of a large 
capital and his journeyman, the lawyer, the physician, the 
Bishop, the unbeneficed clergyman, the dissenting minis- 
ter, the military officer and soldier, the sailor, the water- 
man, the lamplighter, the hackney coachman, the hawkers, 
the beggar, had each a specific character. They were all, 
it is true, in some points Englishmen, but in many more 
they were as dissimilar from each other as if they had 
belonged to dififerent nations. 

In February I set out for Paris with letters of intro- 
duction from Dr. Franklin, to several of his philosophical 
friends. When I parted with the Doctor he asked me "how 
I was provided with money for my jaunt." I told him I 
believed I had enough. "Perhaps not, you may be exposed 
to unexpected expenses, here, said he, is a credit upon a 
banker in Paris for two or three hundred guineas." I 
thankfully accepted his kind and generous offer. The issue 
of it will be mentioned hereafter. Nothing worth relating 
occurred in my journey to Paris. I arrived there in a few 
days after I left London, and was introduced by means of 
my letters to the following persons, Messrs. Dubourg, a 
physician, Le Roy, an Academician, Roux, Baume, Mac- 
quair, Chemists, Sue, the Anatomist, Nollet, lecturer upon 
natural philosophy, Jessieu, botanist to the king, Diderot, 
the philosopher and friend of Voltaire, and some others of 
less note. By means of Dr. Dubourg I was introduced to 
the Marquis of Mirabeau, who kept a coterie once a week 
at his house, to which I was invited. Upon my entering 
his room which was large and filled with ladies and gentle- 
men of the first literary characters in Paris, Dr. Dubourg 
announced me in the following words, "Voila, un ami de 
Mons. Franklin." The Marquis ran towards the door and 
took me by the hand, saying at the same time, "Cest assez." 
The subjects of conversation were economics, liberty and 
government. The Farmers letters written by Mr, Dickin- 
son had then been recently translated into the French Ian- 



A Memorial 43 

guage. They were praised with enthusiasm by all the 
company. Many questions were asked, relative to the 
author of them, which I was able to gratify. Upon my 
mentioning to the Marquis an account which had been pub- 
hshed in a Philadelphia newspaper, that a gentleman in 
Virginia had left Mr. Dickinson a large estate as an 
acknowledgment of his esteem, and admiration of his let- 
ters, the Marquis remarked with great fervor, "J'^n suis 
fache, les richesses corrompt le coeur." This account I 
found afterwards was without foundation. The only 
refreshment given at this coterie was coffee. Several ladies 
attended it. 

The members of this society consisted of some men 
who bore an active part in the events of the first years of 
the French revolution. The seeds of the revolution, it has 
been said by one of its enemies, were sowed by the meet- 
ings and publications of this society. 

There was but little worthy of notice in my intercourse 
with the other gentlemen I have named. Mr. Jessieu bore 
an excellent character for morals as well as for science. Dr. 
Dubourg said of him, before I saw him, that "he possessed 
all the knowledge of the present world, and all the goodness 
of the world to come," 

I heard the Abbe Nollet give a lecture upon natural 
philosophy. The subject of it was the mechanic powers. 
It was received with claps of applause by an audience con- 
sisting of 300 persons. 

Mr. Diderot entertained me in his library. He gave 
me a letter to Mr. Hume when I left him. I delivered this 
letter to Mr. Hume upon my return to London ; it gave me 
an opportunity of spending a part of a forenoon in his com- 
pany. His conversation at this time was general. He had 
a picture of Rousseau in his room which he said was like 
him, especially in having his "peevish countenance." 

I visited all the public hospitals in Paris, but without 
entering myself a pupil in any of them. The Hotel de la 
Charite was remarkably neat, and clean, and the patients 



44 Benjamin Rush 

well accommodated. Many of them were nursed by nuns 
of noble families. The Hotel Dieu was crowded and offen- 
sive. I saw four persons in one bed. It was open to the 
sick of all religions and countries. 

I visited all the galleries and churches that were known 
for containing celebrated pictures. Two of these pictures 
struck me above all others. One was of Mary Magdalen 
weeping, in the church of the Carmelites ; the other was of 
a woman dying with the plague and receiving the sacrament 
from the hand of a priest. It was in the church of the 
Virgin Mary. Pain, sickness and death all appeared in her 
countenance. 

It would require many pages to describe all the elegant 
pieces of statuary which attracted my attention in Paris. 
I was struck most by a representation of Cardinal Richlieu 
in marble, on his death-bed, in the church of Sorbonne. It 
has been pronounced a perfect piece of statuary. When 
Peter the Great of Russia saw it, he fell upon it and 
exclaimed, "O Richlieu ! I would give half my dominions 
for such a minister." 

The public buildings, particularly the palaces of the 
kings, are very splendid, a description of them is to be seen 
in many publications. The foundling hospital was to me a 
most agreeable sight. Eighteen or twenty children were 
admitted into it, the night before I saw it. The door of 
the hospital is always open, and a basket made like a cradle, 
is placed near it into which the infant is placed. A bell is 
then rung, to give notice to the keepers of the hospital of 
what has been done. In the meanwhile, the person who 
brings the infant disappears. It is supposed that one- 
eighth of all the children born in Paris are brought up by 
means of this institution. The motto over the door of the 
hospital is very appropriate to the condition of the children. 
It is, "Mon pere et ma mere m'ont abandonnes, mais le 
Seigneur a pris soin de moi." My father and mother have 
abandoned me, but the Lord hath taken care of me. 

Curiosity led me to visit Versailles where I spent a 



A Memorial 45 

whole day. The palace and the garden were magnificent 
and beautiful. I saw the King Louis the XV pass through 
a large hall to a gallery in his chapel where he went to 
Mass. A loud voice announced his coming. It was, "Le 
Roi vient." 

I stood within a few feet of him as he walked along, 
attended by several priests and noblemen. I followed him 
afterwards into his chapel where I remained until Mass 
was over. His behaviour in chapel was dignified, and 
apparently devout. He had a good eye, and an intelligent 
countenance and hence he was said to be "the most sen- 
sible looking fool in Europe." I saw the Dauphin, his two 
brothers the Count de Provence and the Count d'Artois dine 
in public. The Dauphin was between 15 and 16, and 
appeared dull in his intellects, and vulgar in his manners. 
The Count d'Artois was sprightly and courteous to all 
who approached him. I was afterwards admitted to see 
the King's daughters dine in a private apartment in the 
palace. They appeared to be about forty years of age. I 
saw nothing remarkable about them but a large quantity 
of paint on their cheeks. 

In contemplating the French character, concentrated 
as it was in Paris, I was struck with its immense difference 
from that which I had observed in the character of the 
English nation. There appeared to me to be but one 
Frenchman in Paris. There was no variety in their man- 
ners. The same taste in dress pervades all classes from 
the nobleman to the beggar. The same phraseology was 
heard in their language. "Honor" and "pleasure" were 
the hackneyed words that composed a material part of it. 
The subjects of conversation, except among literary men, 
had no variety. Amusement and anecdotes of the court 
formed a principal part of them. The King was at this 
time the idol of the nation. He was called "Lewis the well 
beloved." The extent of the attachment of the nation to 
him and the principles of the French monarchy may be best 
conceived by the following anecdote. I heard Mr. Wilkes 



46 Benjamin Rush 

say on the day I dined with him at Newgate, that he once 
dined with twelve gentlemen in Paris, eleven of whom 
declared they should think it their duty to surrender up 
their wives to the King if he desired it. 

Civilians divide mankind into three great classes, viz. 
savages, barbarians and civilized people. The savage lives 
by fishing and hunting, the barbarian by pasturage, and the 
civilized man by agriculture. There is a certain chain 
which connects each of these classes together, so that they 
appear to be different parts of one circle. All extremes 
meet in a point. The highest degrees of civilization border 
upon the savage life ; as the individuals of the human race 
are once men and twice children, so nations are once civil- 
ized and twice savages. I shall illustrate these remarks, by 
mentioning certain traits of resemblance between the man- 
ners of the French nation (the most civilized of any nation 
in the world) and the Indians in North America. 

1st. The people of rank and fortune among the French 
are very fond of fishing and hunting. These employments 
are with them the sources of pleasure only, but with the 
Indians they are the means of pleasure and subsistence. 
It would seem from this fact, that man is naturally a wild 
animal, and that when taken from the woods, he is never 
happy in his natural state, 'till he returns to them again. 

2d. The French people are fond of ornamenting their 
faces by means of paint; so are the Indians. The ladies in 
France take no pains to conceal the practice of painting 
their faces. They sometimes take out their boxes in their 
carriages in the streets of Paris, and paint their faces by 
means of a pocket looking glass, in the presence of many 
hundred passing spectators. 

3d. The French people eat their principal meal in the 
evening. The same practice prevails among the Indians. 
They both agree in eating a little and often during the day. 



A Memorial 47 

4. There is a fourth custom in which I observed the 
French people to resemble the Indians, and that is they 
seldom address each other by their proper names. It is no 
uncommon thing for a Frenchman when called by his name 
in company to say, "Sir, I am much obliged to you for 
putting me in mind of my name, but I assure you I had not 
forgotten it." In favor of this omission of which the French 
are so tenacious, I must remark that the best bred people | 
that I have ever met with rarely accost each other with \ 
their names in company. I am at a loss to point out the 
foundation of this custom in nature. We observe it to 
obtain among the Indians in North America. They call 
one another so seldom by their names that some travellers 
have supposed they have none. As they are divided into 
little tribes which marry within themselves, they become 
in a little time related in such a manner that they call each 
other by a name expressive of some of those relations, such 
as Father, Mother, Sister, Brother and Cousin. The latter 
of these epithets they use to all those persons whose rela- 
tionship is too distant to be traced. The other epithets are 
used according to the age or respectability of the person 
who is addressed.* (A note below.) This custom among 
the Indians has been urged with other circumstances, to 
prove their descent from the Jews, who it is well known 
frequently addressed each other in this manner. Thus we 
find Abraham says to Lot, we are brethren, whereas he 
was but his nephew, and Jacob tells Rachel that he was her 
father's brother, when no such relationship subsisted 
between them. The universality of the practice that has 
been mentioned, seems to shew that there is a foundation 
for it in nature, and as it is calculated to remove the dis- 
tance and coldness that separates man from man, real advan- 
tages might arise from its being more generally adopted. 

5. The laborious occupations are held in contempt by 
the French nation ; even commerce is said to taint the blood 



•See Charlevoix's voyage dans I'amerique septentrionale, Vol. V, page 427 



48 Benjamin Rush 

and to degrade family honor. The same sentiment prevails 
among the Indians. Labor is the exclusive business of their 
women and the weak or cowardly part of their men. 

6. The military art is held in the highest estimation in 
France and arms confer the first rank in society. "A t'il 
servi," that is, has he been in the army, is the first and often 
the only question that is asked when an enquiry is made 
into the character of a young gentleman. The same prefer- 
ence is given to the business of war among the Indians. 
The highest praise that can be given to an Indian is to say 
that, "he is a great warrior." 

Having gratified my curiosity to its greatest extent in 
Paris, I set out for London on the 21st, and arrived at 
Calais on the 25th of March. The next day I crossed the 
channel, and arrived at Dover. I left this town on the 27th 
and reached Dartford on the evening of the same day. I 
intended to have proceeded further, but was restrained 
from it, by the suspicious conduct of a man who rode sev- 
eral times around the post-chaise in which I was, with a lady 
and gentleman, and who from his conversation with the 
postillion discovered an evident design to rob us. This 
apprehension was not without its use, and probably became 
the accidental means of saving a life. About 8 o'clock the 
next morning in riding towards London the postillion 
stopped our carriage and said he heard a voice from the 
side of the road in a piece of wood calling for help. As I 
sat nearest to the spot from whence the voice came, I ran 
first to enquire for the cause of it and soon discovered a 
poor woman lying upon an old blanket who told me she 
was in labor. I told her I was a Physician and offered to 
relieve her. She thankfully accepted of my offer, and in 
ten minutes with the assistance of the lady who was with 
me in the carriage, I delivered her of a fine boy. She was 
speechless for some time afterwards, but in this state, she 
took my hand and pressed it to her lips in the most affect- 
ing manner. After waiting about ten minutes her husband 



A Memorial 49 

came to her with two women whom he had picked up in 
the neighbourhood, one of whom took the child from us. We 
lifted her into our post-chaise, and drove her to a little vil- 
lage which was about a mile and a half behind us, where we 
left her in a comfortable house, with as much money as was 
sufficient to support her for several days. When I arrived 
in London and mentioned her case to the lady with whom 
I lodged (a Mrs. Jeffries in the Haymarket) she sent her 
a bundle of clothes for her child and sundry other things 
that were necessary and comfortable for her. I was 
informed two years after that she had called to see me at 
Mrs. Jeffries' and that she had called her little boy by my 
name. 

A day or two after I arrived in London I called upon 
Dr. Franklin, and informed him that my expenses in Paris 
had so far exceeded my expectations that I had been 
obliged to avail myself of his kind offer, by drawing upon 
his banker for thirty guineas. He seemed pleased, and 
requested that I would pay them, when convenient, to his 
wife in Philadelphia. This I did, out of the first money I 
earned after my arrival. Mrs. Franklin for a long time 
refused to receive it, for the Doctor had not mentioned 
the debt to her in any of his letters I take great pleasure 
in recording this delicate act of paternal friendship in Dr. 
Franklin. It attached me to him during the remainder 
of his life, and combined with his character it has, since his 
death, disposed me to respect and love all the branches of 
his family. 

I left London on the 24th of May in a post-chaise and 
reached Gravesend the same evening, where I spent two 
days. On the evening of the 26th I embarked on board the 
ship Edward, Captain Salmon, bound to New York with 
the following cabin passengers : Daniel Coxe of New 
Jersey and his mother; Col. Gabriel Christie and his niece; 
Major Skene; Lieut. Dysert of the British army, and a 
certain John Fricke, a London merchant or shopkeeper. 
We lost sight of land in a few days. The last view I took 



50 Benjamin Rush 

of the white cliffs of Britain, from the stern of our ship was 
an affecting one, — all the ancient and modern glory of that 
celebrated and highly favoured island rushed upon my 
mind. I enjoyed in silence this pensive retrospect of the 
finest country in the world, until distance snatched it for- 
ever from my sight. There was a great variety in the char- 
acters of my fellow passengers and the incidents of the 
voyage gave a perfect knowledge of each of them. Mr. 
Coxe was at all times well-bred and agreeable. His excel- 
lent mother made us forget at times everything that was 
disagreeable at sea, by her pleasant and instructing con- 
versation. She was learned and well informed upon all 
subjects, composed in danger and so patient under con- 
trary winds that it seemed as if she was at home in the 
cabin of our ship. Col. Christie had seen a great deal of 
service, had been in many battles, and mixed much with 
the world. His conversation bore the complexion of what 
he had seen and heard, and was at all times interesting. 
His niece was a handsome girl without much education. 
Major Skene was a civil, inoffensive, well-bred gentleman. 
Lieut. Dysert was a man of a more interesting character. 
He had served during the last preceding war in Germany 
under Prince Ferdinand and the Marquis of Granby, and 
abounded with anecdotes of each of those officers, as well 
as in the details of the war. I passed many pleasant hours 
with him on the deck, after most of the crew had retired 
to rest, listening not only to the history of military events, 
but to incidents of a private nature in the history of his 
life. He was a very accomplished gentleman, always inof- 
fensive, and ever ready to do good offices. I never heard 
him swear nor mention the name of the Supreme Being in 
an irreverent manner. He was a native of Ireland. The 
person who called himself John Fricke, had a strange mix- 
ture of opposite qualities in his character. He knew Lon- 
don perfectly, and all the arts and tricks of business among 
traders of every description. He was facetious upon some 
occasions, but his chief delight was to talk upon the pleas- 



A Memorial 51 

ures of the table. He had Hved among the Methodists, and 
had some of their pecuharities, but not enough of what is 
excellent and praiseworthy in that sect. It was a practice 
of good Mrs, Coxe to read a sermon in the cabin every 
Sunday, or to have one read by her son. Mr, Fricke 
objected to being present upon these occasions, because the 
sermons were only upon moral subjects. Upon my remon- 
strating with him upon this conduct, he told me if I would 
compose a sermon and read it in the cabin the ensuing 
Sunday, he would listen to it. To this I consented. The 
cabin and several of the steerage passengers assembled at 
the usual hour after dinner. The sermon contained a his- 
tory of Mr, F's principles, conduct and appetite taken from 
a character described in the Proverbs of Solomon. The 
whole company applied it to him. He took the sermon 
from me as soon as I had read it, and claimed it as his 
property. I heard a few months after my arrival that he 
read it to a company of gentlemen in Maryland with whom 
he supped and informed them that the subject of it was one 
of his fellow passengers. I never heard of him afterwards. 

Our Captain was an attentive seaman, and treated 
every person on board with civility and in some instances 
with kindness. He was a native of Scotland. 

It has been said there is always more or less inquie- 
tude both of body and mind at sea. It is owing to this 
state of the body and mind that Dr. Franklin used to say, 
"there were three classes of people who did not care how 
little they got for their money, viz. schoolboys, sermon 
hearers and sea-passengers. 'T felt it in the most sensible 
manner. I was but little affected by sea sickness, and that 
but for one day, but I was never perfectly well. My appe- 
tite was weak and no food had its usual taste, and yet I 
was never easy but when I was eating, or for an hour or 
two after it. My mind was equally restless and unsettled. 
The only remedy I found for it was reading and study. 
Having sent most of my books to Philadelphia by a vessel 
that sailed before me, I was obliged to borrow such books 



52 Benjamin Rush 

as I could procure from the ship's company. Mr. Coxe 
lent me the first three volumes of Blackstone's Commen- 
taries, all of which I read with uncommon attention and 
pleasure. I afterwards read Foster's Crown Law. To the 
reading of these books, I ascribe in part the relish for politi- 
cal science which I felt in the beginning of the American 
Revolution. Our Captain lent me an entertaining Italian 
novel which he had picked up at Leghorn, entitled the 
"Countess of the North," which helped to render a few 
hours of every day less tedious. After reading this work 
and several other novels I procured from the steerage 
passengers, I found I had exhausted all the stock of com- 
mon books on board the ship. In this situation I should 
have relapsed into the inquietude of mind I have described, 
had not my friend Mr. Dysert offered to teach me the 
German language. For this purpose he put a grammar and 
German dictionary into my hands. By reading the gram- 
mar over I became acquainted with the principles and con- 
struction of the language. A German steerage passenger 
furnished me with a Bible in which I read constantly so 
that in the course of a few weeks T began to understand 
what I read with but little aid from a translation or a dic- 
tionary. While I was advancing with rapidity in this 
study, I was suddenly called off on the 14th of July by the 
cry of land. This at once dissipated all my ardor in the 
pursuit I was engaged in, and produced a new tide of 
impressions upon my mind. I viewed the American shore 
with a rapture that can only be conceived by persons who 
have been in my situation. In the afternoon of the same 
day we anchored off New York. I was received on the 
wharf by my old classmate and friend Ebenezer Hazard, 
who conducted me to his partner's Garret Noel's, where 
I was most kindly received and entertained. The first 
refreshment I tasted after I came on shore was a dish of 
tea with bread and butter. It had a relish to me which I 
never before perceived in food of any kind and such as is 
perceived after extreme hunger, and in the convalescent 



A Memorial 53 

state of a fever. Three things struck me in the appear- 
ance of the people I saw in the streets of New York. ist. 
They had less color. 2nd. They walked less erect, and 3dly. 
They moved with a less quick step than the citizens of 
London. This difference in the complexion and manner 
of walking in the two countries ceased to attract my atten- 
tion after I had been a few weeks in America. The even- 
ing, and day after my arrival, I felt an uncommon depres- 
sion of spirits, the usual effect of a high tide of joy upon 
the system. I now believe the many accounts which have 
been published, of melancholy and even suicide following 
similar emotions of the mind. Two days after my arrival 
in New York, I set off in the stage for Philadelphia. I met 
my brother and my old classmate and friend Jon'th. Smith 
at Bristol with whom I came into town on the evening of 
the i8th of the month. I was received by my dear mother 
and sisters with tears of joy which soon became reciprocal. 
Several succeeding days were spent in receiving visits from 
my fellow citizens, and in returning them. In the course 
of a week I settled in a house which had been previously 
taken for me in Arch Street, between Front and Second 
Streets. My brother who had just begun the practice of 
the law, lived with me. A sister who had been unfortunate 
in her marriage, kept house for us. In this situation I was 
led to deliberate on the usual modes of a physician's getting 
an establishment in business, for I well knew, that had I 
possessed ever so much knowledge or sagacity in my pro- 
fession, they would avail nothing in my favor. The prin- 
cipal means which introduce a physician into business are 
as follows: 

1. The patronage of a great man. From this quarter 
I had no hopes. 

2. The influence of extensive and powerful family con- 
nections. From this quarter likewise I had nothing to 
hope. 



54 Benjamin Rush 

3dly. The influence of a religious sect or political party. 
At the time of my settlement in Philadelphia the influence 
of the religious society in which I had been chiefly edu- 
cated, viz. the Presbyterians, was too small and too much 
divided to afford me much support. Besides I was too 
feebly attached to their principles and forms to have any 
claims upon them. My intercourse with other sects while 
I was abroad had led me to consider all denominations of 
Christians with a more equal eye than I had done in early 
life, and had divested me of an undue predilection for 
either of them. The Presbyterian society was moreover 
not only small and divided, but it was the object of the 
jealousy of two societies, viz. Quakers and Episcopalians, 
who possessed between them the greatest part of the wealth 
and influence of the city. It was in vain therefore to expect 
patronage from either of them. The Quakers had long 
been in the habit of confining their business chiefly to per- 
sons who belonged to their society or who favoured their 
views in politics. I do not complain of this conduct; it is 
natural. I mention it as a reason why I had recourse 
4thly, to the only mode of succeeding in business which 
was left for me, and that was by attending the poor. I 
had been much struck in reading when a boy that Dr. Boer- 
haave had said thatV'the poor were his best patients, because 
God was their paymaster."!] I had heard that Dr. Cullen 
had been established in Scotland and Dr. Fothetgill in Lon- 
don chiefly by their extensive and successful practice 
among the poor. My natural disposition made this mode of 
getting into business agreeable to me, for I had a natural 
sympathy with distress of every kind. My conduct during 
my apprenticeship moreover paved the way for my success 
in adopting it, for I had made myself acceptable at that 
time to the poor by my services to them ; and in a few 
months I was fully employed. I recollect at one time in 
the first year of my settlement I prescribed after returning 
from a morning walk for sixteen different patients and 
charged but one of them. Several of my poor patients 



A Memorial 55 

lived at Kensington and in distant parts of the Northern 
Liberties and Southwark and some of them lived as ten- 
ants at the country seats near the city. These I visited 
and mostly on foot, for the first years after my settlement, 
and supplied them with all the medicines they required out 
of my own shop. I soon found my labor was not in vain. 
The reputation ascribed to some cures I had performed, 
and the faithful attendance I was said to give my patients 
where no reward was expected, in a little while begat other 
business. I had seen the Suttonian manner of giving and 
treating the smallpox in London and introduced it into our 
city. The mode of infecting the arm by a small puncture, 
instead of a long incision, was a very popular one, and 
brought me many patients, some of whom continued to 
employ me in other diseases. I had learned likewise from 
my master Dr. Cullen to give but few medicines in diseases, 
and to rely more upon diet and drinks than had been com- 
mon in Philadelphia. This likewise helped to introduce me 
into business. The circumstances that influence opinion 
and choice and of course the fate of a physician are too 
numerous and many of them too trifling to be mentioned. 
The following fact will best illustrate this remark, and 
shew that medical skill has but little share in them. I was 
once sent for to see a respectable Scotch sea captain in 
Southwark. I had never heard his name before. After 
I had examined his disease, he told me that he had great 
confidence in me and that he had made choice of me as 
his physician because he had often witnessed my decent 
behaviour in time of divine service in the Rev. Dr. Alli- 
son's church. This man employed me as long as he lived, 
which was twenty years afterwards, and his recommenda- 
tions brought me several families in his neighbourhood. 
Several other persons made it their business to recommend 
me to their friends whose names I take great pleasure in 
recounting. They were, the Rev. Mr. William Marshall by 
whose means I was employed by nearly every family in 
his congregation. This congregation it is true was at that 



56 Benjamin Rush 

time small and poor, but their business was useful to me. 
David McMurtrie, a Scotch merchant, had been acquainted 
with my mother and had formed an attachment to me upon 
her account before I went abroad. Upon my return, he 
took me by the hand, and recommended me to his acquaint- 
ances as a physician. His manner of doing this was artful, 
and therefore not ascribed to any interest he took in my 
establishment. If he heard of anybody being- very ill, he 
made it a practice to enquire who was his Doctor. If my 
name was not mentioned, he expressed his surprise at it, 
and added long details of my opportunities of instruction 
in Edinburgh, and of my having been the pupil of the two 
Hunters in London, both of whom he knew in early life. 
Mrs. Patten, a celebrated midwife, was very successful 
in speaking in my favor. One of the most friendly and 
profitable families that I ever attended, employed me in 
consequence of her recommendations. In addition to the 
aid I derived from the circumstances and friendly exer- 
tions that have been mentioned, I was a good deal assisted 
by being appointed Professor of Chemistry in the College 
of Philadelphia the month after my arrival. This held me 
up to public notice now and then in the newspapers, and 
made my name familiar to the public ear much sooner 
than it would have been. It was likewise an immediate 
source of some profit. For this appointment I was indebted 
to the early friendship of Dr. John Morgan, who first 
advised me to qualify myself for it before I went to Edin- 
burgh in 1766. 

To counteract all these eflforts of my own and of others 
to acquire business in my profession, several of the old and 
established physicians of the city became unfriendly to me 
in consequence of my having broached some parts of Dr. 
Cullen's system of medicine in my lectures. This system 
was built upon the ruins of Dr. Boerhaave's, which was then 
the only prevailing system of medical principles and prac- 
tice in America. I do not recollect in the course of the first 
seven years settlement in Philadelphia that any one of my 



A Memorial 57 

brethren ever sent a patient to me, and yet several of them 
had more applications daily than they were able to attend 
to. The system of Dr. Cullen was calumniated and even 
ridiculed in the newspapers with my name connected with 
it. Perhaps my manner of recommending it provoked this 
opposition, for I know by experience, as well as observa- 
tion, that an indiscreet zeal for truth, justice or humanity 
has cost more to the persons who have exercised it, than 
the total want of zeal for anything good or even zeal in 
false and unjust pursuits. One of the physicians of the 
city complained in severe terms of my having given at my 
table in the presence of a number of students of physic, the 
following toast. "Speedy interment to the system of Dr. 
Boerhaave, and may it never rise again." 

However unpopular and offensive the system of Dr. 
Cullen was when first broached by me, I lived to see it 
adopted by all the physicians who had opposed it — nay, 
more, I lived to see it adhered to and defended with great 
obstinacy when an attempt was made to alter and improve 
it twenty years afterwards. 

In the year 1770 I published in the newspaper some 
observations on the Cynanche trachialis, called at that time 
in our city by the name of hives. In this publication I 
adopted a new opinion of the proximate cause of that dis- 
ease. I supposed it might exist in the wind-pipe from a 
spasm, without any secretion of mucus, or the formation of 
a membrane. This opinion has been confirmed by many 
dissections. 

In 1771 I published three essays with the title of "Ser- 
mons to gentlemen upon temperance and exercise," with- 
out my name. They were well received before it was known 
who was the author of them. I heard of a physician who 
commended them in high terms when he believed they were 
written by another person, and abused them as extrava- 
gantly when he discovered they came from my pen. 

In the year 1771 or 72 a petition was circulated to the 
legislature praying them to increase the duty upon negro 



58 Benjamin Rush 

slaves imported into the province. To aid this petition I 
published an "Address to the inhabitants of the British 
Colonies upon slave keeping," in which I endeavoured to 
shew the iniquity of the slave trade. A reply was pub- 
lished to this address by a Mr. Nesbit from the island of 
Nevis, which drew from me a vindication of my address 
in a pamphlet. This publication had an extensive cir- 
culation and I believe did some good in removing 
several errors and prejudices upon the subject of domestic 
slavery, — but it did me harm, by exciting the resentment 
of many slaveholders against me. It injured me in another 
way, by giving rise to an opinion that I had meddled with 
a controversy that was foreign to my business. I now 
found that a physician's studies and duties were to be lim- 
ited by the public, and that he was destined to walk in a 
path as contracted as the most humble mechanic. The 
influence of these publications was but transitory upon 
my business. It continued to increase, so that in the year 
1775 it was worth about 900 £ a year, Pennsylvania 
currency. 

From the time of my settlement in Philadelphia in 
1769 until 1775 I led a life of constant labor and self denial. 
My shop was crowded with the poor in the morning and 
at meal times, and nearly every street and alley in the city 
was visited by me every day. There are few old huts now 
standing in the ancient parts of the city in which I have not 
attended sick people. Often have I ascended the upper 
story of these huts by a ladder, and many hundred times 
have I been obliged to rest my weary limbs upon the bed- 
side of the sick, from, the want of chairs, where I was sure 
I risqued, not only taking their disease, but being infected 
by vermin. More than once did I suffer from the latter. 
Nor did I hasten from these abodes of poverty and misery. 
Where no other help was attainable, I have often remained 
in them long enough to administer my prescriptions, par- 
ticularly bleeding with my own hands. I review these 
scenes with heartfelt pleasure. I believed at the time that 



A Memorial 59 

they would not lose their reward. "Take care of him, and 
I will repay thee," were words which I have repeated a 
thousand times to myself in leaving the rooms of this class 
of sick people. Nor have I been disappointed. Here there- 
fore will I set my seal to the truth of the divine promises 
to such acts of duty. To His goodness in accepting my 
services to His poor children I ascribe the innumerable 
blessings of my life — nay more my life itself. A fact that 
induced a belief in this shall be mentioned in its proper 
place. 

If I have rendered any services to my fellow citizens, 
or added any facts or principles to that part of the science 
of medicine which relates to Epidemics, I owe both to the 
knowledge I acquired by my familiarity with diseases 
among the poor, in whom they appear ea/rly and in a simple 
state. To my unfettered prescriptions in their diseases I 
owe likewise much of my knowledge of the doses and 
effects of medicines. 

While my days were thus employed in business, my 
evenings were devoted to study. I seldom went to bed 
before 12 o'clock, and many, many times have I heard the 
watchman cry 3 o'clock, before I put out my candle. I 
recollect when I began to feel languid or sleepy at late or 
early hours, I used to excite my mind by increasing the 
heat and blaze of my fire in winter, or by exposing myself 
a few minutes in a balcony which projected over Water 
street, from my back parlour in Front street near Walnut, 
where I resided till the year 1780, after living but a few 
months in the house in which I first settled. 

During the interval between 1769 and 1774 I kept but 
little company. Now and then I gave a dinner or a supper 
to a stranger and to a few young merchants in my neigh- 
bourhood. They were Scotchmen, and some of them pos- 
sessed education and sentiment. I mixed freely in female 
society, and occasionally spent afternoons in the company 
of ladies upon parties of pleasure both in town and in the 
country. In another place I shall mention my accepting 



6o Benjamin Rush 

a medical appointment in the military hospitals of the 
United States in the month of April 1777, and the causes 
that induced me to resign, on the 30th of January 1778. 

I carried with me into private practice a good deal of 
knowledge acquired in the military hospitals. It was there 
I learned the safety and advantages of giving opium in low 
fevers, and of adding other stimulants to opium in the 
treatment of the locked jaw. My business from this time 
was extensive, but less profitable than it should have been, 
from being obliged to receive the payment of my bills in 
paper money which frequently depreciated 2 & 300 per 
cent below their value at the time they were delivered to 
my patients. 

In the Autumn of 1780 I was attacked by the prevail- 
ing epidemic of that season, known and described by the 
name of the breakbone fever. It yielded in a few days to 
an emetic and bark. Upon my recovery from this fever and 
before I had left my room, I dreamed that a poor woman 
came to me just as I was getting into my chair in Penn 
street, and begged me to visit her husband. I told her 
hastily, that I was worn out in attending poor people, and 
requested her to apply to another Doctor. "O ! sir (said 
she lifting her hands) you don't know how much you owe 
to your poor patients. It was decreed that you should die 
by the fever which lately attacked you, but the prayers of 
your poor patients ascended to heaven in your behalf, and 
your life is prolonged only upon their account." This 
answer affected me so much that I awoke in tears. I have 
been as little disposed to superstition as most men, and have 
often exposed the folly of being influenced by dreams, by 
explaining their cause by obvious physical principles. The 
dream I have related left a deep and lasting impression 
upon my mind. It increased my disposition to attend the 
poor, and never, when I could not serve them, to treat 
them in an uncivil manner. 

In order to relieve myself from the pressure of too 
much business, and to assist me in the care of the poor, I 



A Memorial 6i 

took one of my pupils Dr. James Hall into partnership with 
me. He had previously spent 15 months in attending 
lectures in London and the practice of St. Thomas's hos- 
pital. This connection was the more necessary, as frequent 
attacks of a pulmonary affection rendered it unsafe for 
me to go out in the night and bad weather. It would have 
answered the design intended by it, had it not been repre- 
sented by some of my medical brethren as a preparatory 
measure to my declining business, and devoting myself 
exclusively to public pursuits. This partnership instead 
of increasing lessened my business. Its dissolution was 
hastened by Dr. Hall's marriage to Miss Hartley and sub- 
sequent settlement in Yorktown in 1785. 

In the year 1779, I opened a book, and recorded in it an 
account of the diseases of every season, and frequently of 
every month in the year, together with a history of the 
weather and the state of vegetation. I have continued this 
register every year since, and have derived great advan- 
tages from it in my studies and practice. 

For many years after I settled in Philadelphia I was 
regulated in my practice by the system of medicine which 
I had learned from the lectures and publications of Dr. 
Cullen. But time, observations and reflection convinced 
me that it was imperfect and erroneous in many of its parts. 
The discovery of its imperfections and errors produced a 
languor in my mind in discharging the duties of my pro- 
fession, and a wish at times to relinquish it. In some 
diseases my practice was regulated by theory, but in others 
it was altogether empirical. I read, I thought and I 
observed upon the phenomena of diseases, but for a while, 
without discovering anything that satisfied me. The weight 
of Dr. Cullen's name depressed me every time I ventured 
to admit an idea that militated against his system. At 
length a few rays of light broke in upon my mind, upon 
several diseases. These were communicated first to my 
pupils in my lectures, and afterwards to the public in a 
volume of observations and enquiries in the year 1786. In 



62 Benjamin Rush 

the year 1789 I was chosen successor to Dr. Morgan in the 
chair of the theory and practice of physic in the College of 
Philadelphia. It now became my duty to deliver a system 
of principles in medicine. After much study, and inquie- 
tude both by day and night, I was gradually led to adopt 
those which I have since taught from my professor's chair, 
and the press. The leading principle of my system was 
obtruded upon me suddenly, while I was walking the floor 
of my study. It was like a ferment introduced into my 
mind. It produced in it a constant and endless succession 
of decompositions and new arrangements of facts and ideas 
upon medical subjects. I was much assisted in the applica- 
tion of the principles that had occurred to me, by convers- 
ing with my pupils. Their questions and objections sug- 
gested many hints to me which enabled me to fortify my 
principles where they were weak, and to extend them to 
new diseases. Dr. Brown's system of medicine which was 
published about this time, assisted me likewise a good deal 
in my inquiries. I adopted some of his terms in the new 
nomenclature of my principles. From this circumstance, 
superficial readers have supposed that his system and mine 
are the same. Several of my opinions were upon record, 
in my publications, before the name of Dr. Brown was 
known in America, as a teacher of medicine, and many 
more of them are as much opposed to his system as they 
are to that of Dr. Cullen. 

The system I adopted was not merely a speculative 
one. It led to important changes in the practice. Where 
it did not suggest new remedies, it led to circumstances in 
the exhibition of old ones, which determined their safety 
and success. My practice from this time became much 
more successful than it had been before, and I experienced 
a pleasure in it, which reconciled me to all its toils, and 
caused me to rejoice in those acts of providence which had 
originally directed and restrained my studies to medicine. 

In the innovations which I at this time attempted, I 
was not actuated by ambitfon or a desire of being the 



A Memorial 63 

founder of a new sect of physicians. It was always one of 
my numerous weaknesses to hold great men in too much 
veneration, and no one in greater than my master Dr. Cul- 
len. I was at first passive in my new opinions, and when I 
indulged them I as little expected their tendency and preva- 
lence, as I now do to end my days at Lambeth in pos- 
session of the See of Canterbury. It is not to him that 
willeth, nor to him that runneth, but to the overruling 
hand of heaven that we are to look for the successful issue 
of all human events. 

Humble and unworthy instruments are often employed 
in promoting the physical as well as moral happiness of 
mankind, in order to confound the splendor of those exter- 
nal circumstances which attract, and fix the esteem of the 
world. 

The propagation of my new opinions had an imme- 
diate influence upon my business. It lessened it, by pre- 
cluding me from consultations, for most of my brethren in 
Philadelphia were devoted to Dr. Cullen's system of medi- 
cine, and opposed to the least deviation from it. It would 
be improper to ascribe my exclusion from consultations 
wholly to the influence of my new opinions. The part I 
took in favor of my country in the American Revolution, 
had left prejudices in the minds of the most wealthy citi- 
zens of Philadelphia against me, for a great majority of 
them had been loyalists in principle and conduct. It was 
said my meddling with politics was their reason for not 
confiding their health or lives to my care. 

This was not true, for the same people had upon former 
occasions given a lucrative establishment, by their patron- 
age, to physicians who had been exclusively devoted to poli- 
tics or other pursuits equally foreign to medicine, but these 
physicians thought and acted with them in matters that 
related to liberty and government. Other things con- 
tributed to oflFend my medical brethren besides the novelty 
of my opinions and practice. I had declared medicine to be 
a science so simple that two years' study, instead of four 



64 Benjamin Rush 

or more, were sufficient to understand all that was true and 
practical in it. I had rejected a great number of medicines 
as useless, and had limited the materia medica to fifteen or 
twenty articles and in order to strip medicine still further 
of its imposture I had borne a testimony against envelop- 
ing it in mystery, or secrecy by Latin prescriptions, and by 
publishing inaugural dissertations in the Latin language in 
the medical school of Philadelphia. In the latter I was so 
happy as to be completely successful. 

In a city of the size of Philadelphia, there will always 
be a number of men who neither read nor think upon medi- 
cal subjects, and there will always be a few who both read 
and think for themselves. Neither of these classes have 
prejudices and of these in addition to strangers who were 
directed to me by physicians in other States and in the 
West Indies were my patients wholly or chiefly composed. 
They formed, when united, a large body, and rendered my 
business more extensive for many years than any physician 
in the city. The institution of the Dispensary in 1786 
reduced the number of my patients by one-fourth but still 
I had constant employment. 

I remarked in the account of my residence in Edin- 
burgh that the rejection of the political principles in which 
I had been educated, and the adoption of republican prin- 
ciples, had acted like a ferment in my mind, and had led me 
to try the foundations of my opinions upon many other 
subjects as well as that of government. To the activity 
induced in my faculties, by the evolution of my republican 
principles by the part I took in the American Revolution, 
I ascribe in a great measure the disorganization of my prin- 
ciples in medicine. The same republican ferment produced 
similar commotions and I hope a similar precipitation of 
the feculencies of error, upon the subjects of education, 
penal laws and capital punishments, — upon each of which 
I published a number of essays in the "American Museum," 
the "Columbian Magazine," and other periodical works. A 
selection of them has since been published in an octavo 
volume by Samuel Bradford of Philadelphia. 



A Memorial 65 

My opinions upon the latter subjects subjected me to 
some abuse and ridicule in the public newspapers. I met 
with but three persons in Philadelphia who agreed with 
me in denying- the right of human laws over human life, 
when my publication against capital punishments first 
made its appearance, but in less than two years I had the 
satisfaction of observing that opinion to be adopted by 
many hundred people; more especially among the Society 
of Friends. 

But I did not content myself by merely attacking old 
errors and prejudices from the press. I assisted in the 
institution of societies to carry them into eflFect. I was 
likewise for a while an active member of several societies 
whose objects were altogether of a humane nature. They 
were the society for the gradual abolition of slavery; the 
prison and the humane societies. I likewise assisted in 
forming the constitution of the College of Physicians, and 
was for a while a punctual member of it. 

I was often asked how I found time to discharge my 
business, compose lectures, answer letters, write for the 
press and attend so many different societies. I shall now 
answer that question. 

1. I never went out of my house in a morning before 9, 
half past 9 and sometimes 10 o'clock, except called by a 
sudden indisposition, or by a consultation at an earlier hour. 
By this means I received all new applications so as to 
arrange them with the business of the morning. 

2. I lost no time in my own house. The scraps of 
time which interposed between the hour I returned from 
visiting my patients and the times of eating I spent in light 
reading, or answering letters, or such pieces of business 
as required but little abstraction of mind. The evenings 
from 7, 8 or 9 o'clock when not engaged in business or 
company were always spent in study, sometimes in the 
same room with my wife and children, but latterly in a 



66 Benjamin Rush 

room appropriated to my use. I seldom left it till ii or 
12 o'clock at night. 

3. After the year 1789 I rarely dined or spent an even- 
ing out of my own house. 

4. I derived rest from fatigue in reading by writing; 
and from writing by reading, so as to require no other 
relaxation of body or mind for many hours. I likewise 
varied my studies, by which means no one of them ever 
palled, and I think I preserved my mind in a more pointed 
state by this practice, to every study, I learned it from 
Rousseau's history of his life. 

5. By visiting my patients in a carriage, I lost but lit- 
tle time out of doors. I was carried to them with more 
quickness, and was less liable to interruptions and delays 
in the streets than when I visited them on foot. 

6. As I advanced in years I became more frugal of my 
time. To a young lady who was misspending her time, 
I once said I would willingly give a dollar, were it possible, 
for every hour she could not employ ; and often have I 
when thinking of the lost hours of my youth, wished for 
"one ten thousandth of those hours that did no work"* — or 
that produced no fruits of study when I was a young man. 

7. I obviated the usual effect of hot weather in produc- 
ing an inability to read, and thereby a waste of time, by 
spending the hot months in writing for the press. The 
greater exertion necessary to compose than to read, always 
obviated sleepiness. It had the same effect upon me after 
dinner and late at night. 

Many new ideas occurred to me when riding, walking 
or between the times of my waking and leaving my bed 
in the morning. I made it a practice to commit them to 



* Shakespear's Henry IV. 



A Memorial 67 

paper with a pencil when absent from home. In sickness 
and in the convalescence from fever, many new ideas were 
likewise obtruded upon my mind. In writing it was like- 
wise invigorated, so much so, that I have more than once 
relinquished an opinion I sat down to defend, and embraced 
the one that was opposed to it. Conversation often sug- 
gested new views of subjects, even with persons who knew 
less of them than myself. But teaching was the principal 
means of increasing new combinations in my mind. They 
frequently occurred in my chair, and were delivered extem- 
pore to my pupils. The nature of my profession prevented 
my trying the effects of solitude upon my intellectual facul- 
ties, but the few fortuitous experiments that I made, gave 
me no reason to expect anything from it, for I do not recol- 
lect ever acquiring a single new idea by sitting still, and 
doing nothing in my study. 

In acquiring knowledge I did not depend exclusively 
upon books. I made, as far as was in my power, every 
person I conversed with contribute to my improvement. 
I was visited by many literary strangers, and I kept up a 
constant intercourse with several of the most distinguished 
philosophical characters who resided in, or occasionally 
visited Philadelphia. As I wished to be correct, in the 
knowledge I acquired by conversation, I made it a prac- 
tice to record it in a book kept for that purpose after the 
manner as I supposed of Mr. Boyle. By thus committing it 
to paper, I was able to use it more confidently in my lec- 
tures and publications. 

In reading borrowed books, I always made extracts 
from them, and marked down references to the pages of 
my own books in my common place book. As soon as I 
determined to publish upon any subject, I opened a head 
for it, and set down all such facts and thoughts as were 
related to it, that occurred to me in reading, conversation 
and reflection. 

In the year 1791 an union took place between the Col- 
lege of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, 



68 Benjamin Rush 

in consequence of which the annihilation of the professor- 
ship of the theory and practice of physic which I held 
became necessary. Dr. Adam Kuhn was chosen my suc- 
cessor, and I was elected professor of the institutes of medi- 
cine, and of clinical practice. The cases which were to 
furnish materials for clinical lectures were to be selected 
from the Pennsylvania Hospital. I accepted my new 
appointment with great diffidence, and considered it for 
a while a sacrifice of interest and reputation to a desire of 
promoting harmony among the professors of medicine. I 
had neglected no part of my former studies so much as 
Physiology, and I well knew the difficulties and controver- 
sies which hung over that science. There were but six 
weeks between my appointment, and the time in which the 
lectures usually commenced, and those weeks, being in the 
autumnal months, were generally the most sickly, and busy 
part of the year. I began to prepare for the duties of my 
new professorship by reading Boerhaave, Dr. Haller, Hun- 
ter, Gregory, Cullen's manuscript lectures, and many small 
tracts upon physiological subjects. From none of them 
did I derive so many useful hints as from Dr. Hartley's 
treatise upon the frame of man. About two weeks before 
the meeting of the classes, I sat down to compose my lec- 
tures, and during the winter in the midst of constant busi- 
ness I finished and deHvered a course of lectures upon the 
institutes of medicine. Never before had I stretched my 
faculties to such an extent. I slept but little and lived spar- 
ingly during this severe paroxysm of bodily and mental 
exertion. My lectures were well received by my pupils, 
particularly those upon animal life, which were published 
at the request of successive classes in the year 1799. My 
visits to the hospital at this time were more frequent than 
in former winters. This became necessary in order to pre- 
pare for my clinical lectures, which were delivered in the 
University twice a week. 

From the year 1789 to the year 1793 my business 
increased in extent and profit, more especially among 



A Memorial 69 

strangers. My lectures commanded an increasing class. 
Having relinquished public pursuits, I led a retired life, 
associating chiefly with my patients and a few literary 
friends. 

Thus employed, I met the epidemic of 1793. The lapse 
of years has not much lessened the painful recollection of 
the events of that melancholy year. I have described them, 
as far as they relate to myself, in a narrative of the state of 
my body and mind during the prevalence of the fever, 
which is subjoined to an account of it. Other events might 
easily be made to swell that narrative; but I forbear to 
record them. 

My new opinions and practice in medicine had for 
many years before 1793 produced a good deal of secret hos- 
tility to me in many of my brethren. It discovered itself I 
have said in their opposition to my being called into consul- 
tation with them. It appeared likewise in the business of 
the College of Physicians. One of my brethren discovered 
his enmity to me in constant efforts to dissuade the stu- 
dents of medicine from attending my lectures. The success 
which attended the remedies which it pleased God to make 
me the instrument of introducing into general practice in 
the treatment of the fever of 1793 produced a sudden com- 
bination of all who had been either publicly or privately 
my enemies, and the most violent and undisguised exertions 

to oppose and discredit those remedies. Dr. led the 

van in a publication against them. It was followed by 
many others from practitioners of less note. The influence 
of these publications threatened the depopulation of the 
city. For a while I opposed them with gentleness in pri- 
vate conferences with my brethren in the streets, and in 
several friendly and respectful communications to the Col- 
lege of Physicians. It was all to no purpose. The sudden 
increase of my business and the public effusions of grati- 
tude which issued from many persons who ascribed the 
preservation of their lives to my remedies, produced fresh 
acts of hostility towards me. I saw marks of the most 



70 Benjamin Rush 

inveterate malice in their conduct, but I saw what vexed 
and distressed me much more — and that was marks of 
ignorance of the most common and obvious facts and prin- 
ciples in epidemics. Never did I feel less unkindness to 
a fellow creature than at this time. I considered myself 
as shortly destined to the hearse and ambition of course 
held forth no prospects of future advantages from a victory 
in a contest with my brethren. No, citizens of Philadelphia, 
it was for your sakes only I opposed their errors and prej- 
udices, and to this opposition many thousand people owed 
their lives. Had I consulted my own interest or reputation, 
I would have concealed my remedies, instead of communi- 
cating an account of them to the apothecaries, who derived 
large sums of money from the sale of them, much less 
would I have endeavoured to teach the people to cure 
themselves by my publications in the newspapers, after 
they were deserted by their family physicians. 

In reviewing my conduct upon this occasion I have 
examined its motives with leisure and severity and have not 
been able to criminate myself. I condemn myself only for 
some harsh expressions which I made use of in speaking 
of the conduct and practice of those who set themselves 
against me. The occasion will palliate, if it does not justify 
them. I was contending with the most criminal ignorance, 
and the object of the contest was the preservation of a city. 

The most offensive thing I did to my brethren was 
refusing to consult with them. This was an eflfect of a 
painful sense of duty to the sick, who are always the suf- 
ferers or sacrifices by consultations between physicians of 
opposite principles and practice. I had often before the 
year 1793 seen and deplored their consequences without 
daring to object to them. At this time, I was impressed 
with a more aflfecting sense of their folly and wickedness, 
and to my independence in refusing any longer to submit 
to them I owe the rapidity with which I ripened and estab- 
lished my mode of practice. 



A Memorial 71 

To prevent the recurrence of the fever, I early pointed 
out its domestic origin. In this opinion I was opposed by 
nearly the whole College of Physicians, who derived it from 
a foreign country, and who believed it to be a specific dis- 
ease. They were followed by nearly all the physicians of 
Philadelphia, 

Soon after the fever left the city I dissolved my con- 
nection with the College of Physicians. It had long been 
disagreeable to me, and I derived no improvement from it, 
equal to the time my attendance upon its meetings con- 
sumed. The leading members of it had now, moreover, 
become my open enemies. I accompanied my resignation 
with the following letter to Dr. Redman, the President of 
the College. 

Dear Sir, 

I beg you would convey by means of this letter my 
resignation of my fellowship in the College of Physicians. 

I request at the same time their acceptance of a copy of 
Dr. Wallis's edition of the works of Dr. Sydenham. 

With the tenderest sentiments of respect for yourself, 
I am, dear sir, your sincere friend, and the College's well- 
wisher. 

BENJAMIN RUSH. 
5th November 1793. 

I intended, by the present of Dr. Sydenham's works, to 
convey to the College a defence of the principles which had 
regulated my practice in the yellow fever, and a rebuke of 
the ignorance of many of the members of the College of the 
most common laws of epidemics, which are recorded in 
almost every page of that author. 

A number of cases of yellow fever occurred in the sum- 
mer and autumn of 1794, and a few in the same season in 
1795 and 1796. In order to direct the attention of our citi- 
zens to its only cause and remedies I conceived it to be 
my duty to call all the cases of that fever which came under 



72 Benjamin Rush 

my notice by its unpopular name. This well-meant and 
proper conduct exposed me to many unkind and cruel 
reflections from my fellow-citizens. They were stimulated 
to them by several of the physicians who held a contrary 
opinion to mine of the origin of the disease. 

In the year 1797 the yellow fever became again epi- 
demic. During the two preceding years an intercourse had 
been revived between two of the physicians whom I had 
offended by not consulting with them in 1793, and we had 
attended several patients together with harmony and suc- 
cess. To a third, whom I had offended, I had made over- 
tures of reconciliation, and to none of the others had I 
oflfered any recent causes of hostility. 

Soon after the fever appeared, Dr. Griffitts published 
without his name some plain and sensible directions to the 
citizens for the treatment of the fever. This publication 
was ascribed to me in Fenno's paper, and a most virulent 
invective against me connected with it. It was soon after- 
wards followed by torrents of abuse in a paper conducted 
by one Cobbett, an English alien who then resided in Phila- 
delphia. The publications in these two daily papers were 
continued for near six weeks against my practice and char- 
acter, particularly against my political principles, which 
were those of the federal republic of our country. A mem- 
ber of the College of Physicians avowed himself the author 
of the most malignant of these publications. All these dif- 
ferent attacks upon my character and practice were well 
received by many of my fellow-citizens. Some of them con- 
sidered them as a just punishment for my political prin- 
ciples, while many more acquiesced in them, as the prob- 
able means of destroying the influence of a man who had 
aimed to destroy the credit of their city by ascribing to it 
a power of generating yellow fever. Among these two 
classes of my enemies, were several persons whose lives 
I had contributed to save in the year 1793. 

Their design proved successful. They lessened my 
business, and they abstracted so much of the confidence 



A Memorial 73 

of my patients as to render my practice extremely difficult 
and disagreeable among them. To put a stop to their 
injurious effects upon my business, and the lives of my 
patients, I commenced civil actions against both the prin- 
ters. The issue of one of them shall be mentioned in 
another place. 

Between the year 1794 and 1799 I published three vol- 
umes of medical enquiries and observations in addition to 
two former volumes which bore the same title. They con- 
tained among other things a history of the yellow fever as 
it appeared in our city in 1793 — 1794 — and 1797. I pub- 
lished in the year 1797 my lectures upon animal life, and 
two small pamphlets on the origin of the yellow fever which 
I addressed to the citizens of Philadelphia. 

From the year 1793 till 1797 my business was station- 
ary in Philadelphia, after 1797 it sensibly declined. I had 
no new families except foreigners, added to the list of my 
patients and many of my old patients deserted me. Even 
the cures I performed added to the detraction that had 
taken place against my character, when they were effected 
by remedies that were new and contrary to the feelings 
of citizens. No ties of ancient school fellowship, no obliga- 
tions of gratitude, no sympathy in religious or philosophical 
opinions, were able to resist the tide of public clamor that 
was excited against my practice. My name was mentioned 
with horror in some companies, and to some of the weakest 
and insignificant of my brethren false tales of me became 
a recommendation to popular favor. 

To supply the diminution of the resources of my busi- 
ness, my wife's uncle Mr. Boudinot applied to Mr. Adams, 
then President of the United States, in my behalf for the 
office of Treasurer of the Mint rendered vacant by the death 
of Dr. Way in the fever of 1797. There were about forty 
applications for it. Upon my being nominated by the 
President, several persons remonstrated against my appoint- 



74 Benjamin Rush 

ment, urging that I was a French Democrat. Even 
"Mrs. Adams was applied to, to use her influence with the 
President against me. These efforts proved ineffectual to 
shake the President's determination. "I know (said he) 
Dr. Rush's principles perfectly. He is no more a French 
Democrat than I am." When I received the appointment 
I waited upon him to thank him. He took me by the hand, 
and with great kindness said, "You have not more pleasure 
in receiving the office, than I have in conferring it upon an 
old Whig." 

In order to oppose the weight of associated numbers 
to the influence of the College of Physicians, I assisted 
during the winter of 1798 in forming a society, the prin- 
cipal object of which was to collect and publish proofs of 
the domestic origin of the yellow fever. It was called 
the "Academy of Medicine." Their publications in favor of 
their opinion fell dead from the press and of course pro- 
duced no change in the sentiments, and but Httle in the 
conduct of the citizens of Philadelphia. 

On the 14th of December, 1799, a jury fined Wm. 
Cobbett 5000 Dollars for his publications against me. He 
had at this time removed to New York where he vented 
his rage in a number of publications of the same com- 
plexion with those he had published in his newspaper, but 
with many additional falsehoods. 

I had been too much accustomed to defamation and 
ingratitude to be affected by them, in the degree that was 
expected. I attended my patients and applied to my studies 
while they were circulating, with my usual punctuality and 
industry. I drew upon the comforts and supports with 
which Christianity abounds, to those who suffer persecution 
in the cause of truth and humanity and while my enemies 
exulted in the ruin which they supposed they had brought 
upon my character, I was favoured with such composure 
and satisfaction of mind, such confidence in the future 
justice and goodness of heaven towards me, as enabled 
me to treat all the slanders against me with silence. In the 



A Memorial 75 

course of a few months they were neglected and forgotten. 
In this instance I experienced the truth of a remark 
I had often heard made by Dr. Witherspoon that, "Scandal 
died sooner of itself than we could kill it." 

I have carefully avoided mentioning the names of my 
medical enemies. I bear them no malice. I yielded to a 
duty superior to the love of peace, in opposing their 
opinions and practice, and that is, the love of the lives of 
my fellow-citizens. If I had entertained a desire for 
revenge, it would have been amply gratified by seeing them 
all adopt that practice and some of them, those opinions 
which they had so strenuously opposed and vilified. I for- 
give them from the bottom of my soul, and I thank God I 
feel a heart disposed not only to be reconciled to them, 
but to do them acts of kindness. I desire that my children 
may never remember the injuries they have done me, but 
treat them and their posterity as if they had been my 
friends. We shall soon lie down in the grave together, and 
afterwards enter upon a state of existence where we shall 
be as much ashamed of the matters that now divide us, as 
we are of our contests about the highest seat on a bench, 
or about jackstones in the schools of our childhood. 

It would be criminal in me after mentioning the num- 
ber and malignity of my enemies, not'to acknowledge my 
obligations to Heaven for the friendship I experienced from 
many of my medical brethren in Philadelphia. These were 
my venerable master Dr. Redman, Dr. Griffitts, Dr. Physic, 
Dr. Sam Duffield, Dr. John R. Coxe, Dr. Mease, Dr. Cald- 
well, Dr. Dewees, Dr. Say, Dr. Gallaher, Dr. Stewart and 
some others. There were some other medical gentlemen 
from whom I never experienced an injury and who always 
treated me with civility. They took no part in the con- 
troversy which divided me from the leading members of 
the College of Physicians. 

A few miscellaneous remarks shall close the history of 
this part of my travels through life. At the time of my 
writing them I review one and thirty years spent in the 



76 Benjamin Rush 

study and practice of physic, under circumstances of labor, 
self denial and danger to health and life, that have not 
often been exceeded by physicians in modern times. The 
product of this labor would probably have been much 
greater from several of the mechanical arts or from agri- 
culture, than it has been from my profession. By the depre- 
ciation of paper money and the loss of business to which 
I exposed myself by my taking part in the American war, 
I have said, I sacrificed not less than £10,000. Including 
the business I did without charging for it, and bad and 
absolved debts, I have not been paid for more than one- 
fifth of the labor of my life. 

I never sued but six persons in the course of my 
practice for medical services, by which lenity I lost many 
hundred, probably thousand pounds. I give myself no 
credit for this conduct to my debtors in many instances; 
on the contrary I injured the practice of physic, and society 
by it, by encouraging many people to exercise similar 
injustice to other classes of creditors. I believe further, 
that I injured myself by it, for patients who became 
indebted to me and refused to pay my bills, not only left 
me, but as a justification of their conduct, used their influ- 
ence to persuade others to follow them in employing other 
physicians. 

I made it a constant practice to reduce or forgive my 
bills when my patients asked it. In some instances I did 
this where it was not asked, when I heard that my patients 
were poor, or had met with some unexpected misfortune. 
I always considered my first obligations to be to my 
patients, and therefore made every other duty to society, 
yield to them. 

I frequently exposed myself to reproach from the regu- 
lar bred physicians by attending patients with quacks, and 
with practitioners of physic of slender education. I justi- 
fied this conduct by saying that I rescued the sick from the 
hands of ignorant men, and gave them a better chance of 
being cured, and at the same time instructed them in a 



A Memorial 77 

regular mode of practice. I am satisfied that I did good by 
my condescension, and that many poor people owe their 
lives, and one practitioner in physic in Philadelphia owes 
his fortune in part to it. 

I took great pleasure in promoting the advancement of 
young physicians in knowledge and business. I have 
received returns of gratitude from but few of them. Those 
whom I served most essentially have been my greatest 
enemies. Such have been the acts of hostility I have 
received from some of those physicians I have obliged most, 
that I have sometimes thought when any of them called 
upon me for a favor, to demand from him previously to 
granting it, a written obligation with a penalty that he 
would not at a future day injure me. 

I have found the least gratitude from those families in 
which I had performed the greatest services. The slightest 
act of inattention has often cancelled the obligations created 
by years of attention and even friendship. Many families 
whom I attended in low and obscure situations for nothing 
or for very small compensations, left me when they got up 
in the world. They could not bear to be reminded by my 
presence of their former poverty or humble employments. 

I never but once spoke an angry word to a sick person. 
Many, many cruel reproaches and insults have I received in 
sick rooms, to which I have made no reply. This self com- 
mand was the effect of reasoning and sympathy. I con- 
sidered invalids as under a physical influence which ren- 
dered them in some measure the machines of their passions. 
The person whose insolence I resented was an officer in 
the American army. He was a man of true courage, but 
his good sense got so much the better of his pride and ill- 
temper, that he politely asked my pardon. I afterwards 
cured him, and charged him nothing for my services. 

I never charged an officer or soldier of the American 
army anything for my medicines and attendance upon them 
during the whole of the Revolutionary war. 

I once lost the business of a respectable and worthy 
family for several years by taking up a newspaper which 



7 8 Benjamin Rush 

lay upon a table and reading it, while the lady of the house 
was giving me an uninteresting history of the case of one 
of her family. 

I made it a practice to speak with great uncertainty 
and caution of the fatal issue of diseases, and yet I once lost 
the business of a worthy patient, whom I advised to lose 
blood, by telling him that if he delayed it four and twenty 
hours "he might be a dead man." 

I once offended an American officer who expressed a 
fear of dying with some camp disease, by telling him that 
to "die of a bullet was the natural death of a soldier." I 
alluded here to Sterne's remark that "to break the neck by 
a fall from the box of a carriage is the natural death of 
a coachman." I seldom predicted the issue of acute diseases 
in life or death. To a patient whom I attended in consul- 
tation with Dr. I said he was out of danger. He 

died in a few hours afterwards with a rupture of an abscess 
in his liver. 

How wide are the circles which error and folly create 
in the minds of men ! These four acts of inattention, igno- 
rance and ill-timed pleasantry, did me more harm than a 
thousand instances of extraordinary attention to the sick, 
well-timed anecdotes, or of just predictions of the issue of 
diseases, would have done me good. With all the folly and 
indiscretions of my life, with all the odium which my 
opinions in medicine, politics and religion exposed me, and 
with all the pecuniary defalcations which have been men- 
tioned, I believe I did more business and with more profit, 
between the year 1769 and 1800 than any cotemporary phy- 
sician in Philadelphia. Thus it is the Providence of God 
often blesses men in spite of themselves, and finally pro- 
tects them from the coils to which an adherence to the 
dictates of their judgments, and well meant endeavours to 
promote knowledge and public happiness, expose them. 

My persecutions have often been such as to subject me 
to the pity of my friends, and even of my enemies. Upon 
comparing them with the pleasure I have enjoyed in the 



A Memorial 79 

investigation, discovery and promulgation of truth, and in 
the practical duties of my profession, they appear to be 
light and trifling. I have given them a place in this work, 
chiefly to shew how feeble their weight is when opposed 
by a belief in a divine government over the affairs of indi- 
viduals, by a constant and at all times a delightful sense 
of fellowship in suffering from calumny with good men in 
all ages and countries, by a conviction of the present extent, 
and a hope in the future benefit of my labors to mankind, 
and by a consciousness amidst many failings of aiming 
well. Brutus said in the close of his life, that he had 
devoted himself to his country, and had led a life of liberty 
and glory. I can say with equal truth, I early devoted 
myself to the interests of science, and humanity, and have 
through the mercy of God led a life in which the good I 
have enjoyed, has predominated infinitely over all the evil 
I have felt and merited. 

However trifling it may appear, I cannot help an 
acknowledgment of the good providence of God in having 
preserved me from falls in climbing and descending stairs, 
and from insults in the streets in the most lonely places, 
and at all hours of the night, during the course of one and 
thirty years. 

I acknowledge His goodness likewise in having been 
preserved from great losses by securityships. I have lost 
it is true nearly one thousand pounds of loaned money, but 
I lost but a few hundred dollars by endorsing a note for a 
friend. 



8o Benjamin Rush 

An Account of Political and Military Events and 
Observations 

I had, previously to my going abroad, become ac- 
quainted with the claims of my country to an exemption 
from taxation by the British Parliament. During my resi- 
dence in Edinburgh my attachment to political justice was 
much increased by my adopting republican principles. 
Thus prepared and predisposed, I took an early, but obscure 
part in the controversy between Great Britain and the 
American Colonies in the year 1773. Having published 
several essays in the newspapers in favor of the claims of 
my country, which attracted notice, I was admitted into 
the confidence of John Dickinson (the author of the 
Farmer's letters), Charles Thompson, Thomas afterwards 
General Mifflin, and George Clymer who then by their pub- 
lications governed the public mind in Pennsylvania. Their 
influence was much aided by a pamphlet written by James 
Wilson who then lived at Carlisle, and by the conversa- 
tion of Edward Biddle an eminent lawyer who then lived 
at Reading. From these sources proceeded for a while 
nearly all the political information which set Pennsylvania 
in motion, and united her with her sister colonies. My 
profession gave me an opportunity of discovering the errors 
and prejudices which hung over the minds of the middling 
class of our citizens upon the subjects of liberty and gov- 
ernment. These were communicated to some of the above 
gentlemen, by whom they were combatted and refuted. I 
was not idle at this time with my pen. I wrote under a 
variety of signatures, by which means an impression of 
numbers in favor of liberty was made upon the minds of its 
friends and enemies. In September 1774, the first Congress 
met in Philadelphia. I went as far as Frankford to meet 
the delegates from Massachusetts, and rode back into town 
in the same carriage with John Adams and two of his col- 
leagues. This gentleman's manners were at that time plain 
and reserved. He asked me many questions relative to 



A Memorial 8i 

the state of public opinion upon politics and the characters 
of the most active citizens on both sides of the controversy. 
Of the answers to these questions he reminded me in the 
year 1798. 

I waited upon all the members of the first Congress and 
entertained most of them at my table. John and Samuel 
Adams domesticated themselves in my family. Their con- 
versation was at all times animating and decided in favor 
of liberty and republicanism. Their characters will be 
given elsewhere. Patrick Henry from Virginia was my 
patient under inoculation for the smallpox. He was ami- 
able in his manners and a zealous advocate for the claims 
of his country. I never heard him speak in public, but his 
private opinions upon men and things shewed a deep and 
correct knowledge of human nature. I recollect that he 
disapproved of the expedition into Canada for the pur- 
pose of exciting an insurrection in that province against 
the British government. He said, "Men would never revolt 
against their ancient rulers, while they enjoyed peace and 
plenty." The event proved that he was right. When I 
told him that Genl. Warren had fallen in the battle of 
Bunker's Hill on the 19th of April, 1775, he said in an 
exulting manner, *T rejoice to hear it. His death will do 
a great deal of good. We wanted some breaches made upon 
our affections to awaken our patriotism and to prepare us 
for war." The conversations with this gentleman and many 
other members of the first and second Congresses consti- 
tuted feasts of noble sentiments. Our country was then 
untainted by speculation. A selfish spirit was scarcely 
known. The errors of the British government and the cor- 
ruptions of the British Court, were the common subjects 
of complaint and declamation in all Whig companies. It 
seemed as if every man who acted for the public was then 
honest and in earnest. Benevolence was actuated by new 
objects. It embraced the nations of Europe, and finally 
the whole family of mankind, who, it was daily said, were 
interested in the issue of our struggle. During the first 



82 Benjamin Rush 

Congress I spent a long evening at General Mifflin's in com- 
pany with General Washington, the two Adams', General 
Lee, and several other gentlemen who acted a conspicuous 
part in the American Revolution. After supper several of 
the company looked forward to the probable consequence 
of the present measures, and state of things. John Adams 
said he had no expectation of a redress of grievances, and 
a reconciliation with Great Britain, and as a proof of this 
belief, he gave as a toast, "Cash and gunpowder to the 
Yankies." The war which he anticipated, it was expected 
would begin among the New England men, who were then 
called Yankies both by their friends and enemies. 

The evening after the adjournment of this Congress, 
a number of the members invited those citizens of Phila- 
delphia who had entertained them to a supper at the City 
tavern. I was present. The company was large, and the 
conversation animated by the most fervid patriotism. Mr. 
Dean a delegate from Connecticut discovered distant and 
correct views of what would probably follow the measures 
adopted by Congress, both in Britain and America. But 
Governor Ward of Rhode Island extended his views much 
farther in the following toast. "May the fire which has 
been recently kindled upon the altar of liberty in America, 
enlighten all the nations of the world into a knowledge 
of their rights." Wm. Livingston, afterwards Governor of 
New Jersey, contributed very much to the pleasure of this 
evening by his facetious stories and conversation. 

I continued a spectator only of the events which passed 
in our country in the winter of 1775. The battle of Lexing- 
ton gave a new tone to our feelings, and I now resolved to 
bear my share of the duties and burthens of the approach- 
ing revolution. I considered the separation of the Colonies 
from Great Britain as inevitable. The first gun that was 
fired at an American cut the cord that had tied the two 
countries together. It was the signal for the commence- 
ment of our independence and from this time all my publi- 
cations were calculated to prepare the public mind to adopt 
that important and necessary measure. 



A Memorial 83 

The second Congress met in May 1775. I mixed 
freely with them, particularly with the two Adams and 
other members from New England, who had anticipated 
and even cherished the idea of independence. 

A few days after the appointment of General Washing- 
ton to be Commander-in-chief of the American army, I was 
invited by a party of delegates and several citizens to a 
dinner which was given him on the banks of the Schuylkill 
below the city. Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jefferson, James Wilson, 
Jno. Langdon of New Hampshire, and about a dozen more 
constituted the whole company. The first toast that was 
given after dinner was the "Commander-in-Chief of the 
American Armies." General Washington rose from his 
seat, and with some confusion thanked the company for the 
honor they did him. The whole company instantly rose, 
and drank the toast standing. This scene so unexpected 
was a solemn one. A silence followed it, as if every heart 
was penetrated with the awful, but great events which 
were to follow the use of the sword of liberty which had 
just been put into General Washington's hands by the 
unanimous voice of his country. 

About this time I saw Patrick Henry at his lodgings, 
who told me that General Washington had been with him, 
and informed him that he was unequal to the station in 
which his country had placed him, and then added with 
tears in his eyes, "Remember Mr. Henry what I now tell 
you — from the day I enter upon the command of the 
American armies, I date my fall and the ruin of my 
reputation." 

During the session of the Congress the General went 
to Cambridge accompanied by General Lee, Thomas after- 
wards General Mifflin his aid de camp, and several other 
military gentlemen. Thousands thronged to see him set 
off from lodgings. T. Mifflin held his stirrup while he 
mounted his horse. 

About the year 1774 a certain Thomas Paine arrived 
in Philadelphia from England with a letter of recommenda- 



84 Benjamin Rush 

tion to his family in Philadelphia. Mr. Paine said his object 
was to teach a school, or to give private lessons upon geogra- 
phy to young ladies and gentlemen. While he was waiting 
for employment, Robert Aitkin applied to him to conduct 
the United States Magazine. He did this with great ability 
and success for several months. In one of my visits to Mr. 
Aitkin's book store I met with Mr. Paine and was intro- 
duced to him by Mr. Aitkin. His conversation became at 
once interesting. I asked him to visit me which he did a few 
days afterwards. Our subjects of conversation were polit- 
ical. I perceived with pleasure that he had realized the 
independence of the American Colonies upon Great Britain, 
and that he considered the measure as necessary to bring 
the war to a speedy and successful issue. I had before this 
interview put some thoughts upon paper, upon this subject, 
and was preparing an address to the inhabitants of the 
Colonies upon it. But I had hesitated as to the time, and I 
shuddered at the prospect of the consequences of its not 
being well received. I mentioned the subject to Mr. Paine, 
and asked him what he thought of writing a pamphlet upon 
it. I suggested to him that he had nothing to fear from the 
popular odium to which such a publication might expose 
him, for he could live anywhere, but that my profession 
and connections which tied me to Philadelphia, where a 
great majority of the citizens and some of my friends were 
hostile to a separation of our country from Great Britain, 
forbad me to come forward as a pioneer in that important 
controversy. He readily assented to the proposal, and from 
time to time he called at my house, and read to me every 
chapter of the proposed pamphlet as he composed it. I 
recollect being charmed with a sentence in it, which by 
accident, or perhaps by design, was not published. It was 
as follows. "Nothing can be conceived of more absurd 
than three millions of people flocking to the American shore, 
every time a vessel arrives from England, to know what 
portion of liberty they shall enjoy." When Mr. Paine had 
finished his pamphlet, I advised him to shew it to Dr. 



A Memorial 85 

Franklin, Mr. Rittenhouse, and Mr. Samuel Adams, all of 
whom I knew were decided friends to American independ- 
ence. I mention these facts to refute a report that Mr. 
Paine was assisted in composing his pamphlet by one or 
more of the above gentlemen. They nevef saw it until it 
was written and then only by my advice. I gave it at his 
request the title of "Common Sense". 

The printing of this pamphlet was the next thing to be 
done. For this purpose I applied to Thomas Bell, a Scotch 
bookseller of a singular character, but a thoughtless and 
fearless Whig and an open friend to independence, to under- 
take the publication of it. He enjoyed the proposal. I sent 
Mr. Paine to him, and in a few weeks the pamphlet made its 
appearance. Its effects were sudden and extensive upon the 
American mind. It was read by public men, repeated in 
Qubs, spouted in schools and in one instance delivered from 
the pulpit instead of a sermon, by a clergyman in Con- 
necticut. Several pamphlets were written against it, but 
they fell dead from the press. The controversy about inde- 
pendence was carried into the newspapers, in which I bore 
a busy part. It was carried on at the same time in all the 
principal cities in our country. I was actuated by the 
double motives of the safety of my country and a predilection 
to a republican form of government which I now saw within 
her grasp. It was a blessing I had never expected to pos- 
sess at the time I adopted Republicati principles in the city 
of Edinburgh. These principles were daily nourished by 
conversations with Samuel and John Adams, David Ritten- 
house and Owen Biddle, all of whom appeared to be Repub- 
licans from choice. Mr. Rittenhouse informed me that he 
had never held any other principles in government, and that 
the only person he had ever known who thought with him 
was his brother-in-law John Jacobs of Chester County, 
who had been a Republican above twenty years. 

In the month of August I paid a visit to my old friends 
Dr. Witherspoon and Mr. Stockton at Princeton. I met Mr. 
Stockton and his lady at a tavern a few miles from Princeton 



86 Benjamin Rush 

and was conducted by him to his house, where I was kindly 
entertained as his guest for several days. His eldest daugh- 
ter, a young lady between i6 and 17 years of age soon 
attracted my attention. She was engaging in her manners 
and correct in her conversation. I had seen a letter of her 
writing to Mrs. Ferguson which gave me a favorable idea 
of her taste and understanding. It was much strengthened 
by an opinion I heard her give of Dr. Witherspoon's preach- 
ing the next day after I saw her. She said he was the best 
preacher she had ever heard. Such a declaration I was sure 
could only proceed from a soundness of judgment and cor- 
rectness of taste seldom to be met with in a person of her age, 
for there was nothing in Dr. Witherspoon's sermons to 
recommend them, but their uncommon good sense and sim- 
plicity of style. From this moment I determined to offer 
her my hand. Soon after I returned to Philadelphia I wrote 
to her mother (who had been my acquaintance and friend 
when a boy at the College of Princeton) for her and Mr. 
Stockton's permission to visit their daughter. This request 
was politely granted. After several visits my suit was 
blessed with success, and I was married to her on the nth 
of January, 1776. There was fourteen years difference in 
our ages. I had carried her in my arms from the college 
hall to her father's house on the evening after a commence- 
ment in the year 1763. The influence of this connection 
upon my happiness and conduct in life will be taken notice 
of in another place. 

From scenes of domestic joys, I return to the history 
of events produced by the revolutionary state of our country. 

In the winter of 1776 I was elected a member of what 
was then called a committee of inspection for carrying into 
execution the resolves of the Congress. Here I took an 
active part, both in their debates and business. From the 
increase in the quantity of money and the scarcity of some 
articles of merchandise, there was a great increase in their 
price. The committee attempted to restrain this evil, by 
publishing an order limiting provisions and imported goods 



A Memorial 87 

to their old prices. I stood nearly alone in my opposition 
to this measure. To shew its impracticability I read a pas- 
sage from Hume's History of England in which similar 
attempts to subject the articles of trade to legislative prices, 
had not only failed of success, but produced a scarcity of 
provisions that bordered upon famine. The precedents of 
Mr. Hume had no effect upon the clamors that were urged 
in favor of the adoption of the measure, and it was finally 
carried by nearly an unanimous vote. I now saw that men 
do not become wise by the experience of other people. 
Subsequent observations taught me that even our own expe- 
rience does not always produce wise conduct, though the 
lessons for that purpose are sometimes repeated two or 
three times. 

With the best dispositions to act properly the people 
in America imitated the blunders of nations in situations 
similar to their own, and scarcely succeeded in a single 
undertaking, till they had exhausted all the errors that had 
been practiced in the same pursuits, in other countries. 

In this committee I was often disgusted in observing 
an intolerant spirit towards the persons who were opposed 
to the war. I frequently advocated or palliated their con- 
duct, by which means I lessened my influence among my 
Whig fellow-citizens. I was notwithstanding appointed 
one of a delegation to meet deputies from the committees 
of all the Counties of the State, in order to fix a mode of 
calling a Convention to form a new Constitution for Penn- 
sylvania, agreeably to a recommendation of Congress of the 
15th May, 1776. The committee met, in what they called a 
conference, and fixed upon the time and manner of choosing 
a Convention for the above purpose, 

I had frequent occasion to observe that the Tories and 
Whigs were actuated by very different motives in their con- 
duct, or by the same motives operating with different 
degrees of force. The following classes of each of them 
was published by me in the early stage of the war in Dun- 
lap's paper. There were Tories, ist. — from an attachment 



88 Benjamin Rush 

to power and office. 2ndly. — from an attachment to British 
commerce which the war had interrupted or annihilated. 
3dly. — from an attachment to kingly government. 4thly. — 
from an attachment to the hierarchy of the Church of Eng- 
land which it was supposed would be abolished in America 
by her separation from Great Britain. This motive acted 
chiefly upon the Episcopal clergy, more especially in the 
Eastern States. 5thly. — from a dread of the power of the 
country being transferred into the hands of the Presbyterians. 
This motive acted also upon many of the Quakers in Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey and upon the Episcopalians, in 
several of those States where they had been in possession 
of power, or of a religious establishment. 

It cannot be denied, but that private and personal con- 
siderations actuated some of those men who took a part in 
favor of the American Revolution. There were Whigs, ist. 
From a desire of possessing, or at least sharing in the 
power of our country. It was said there were Whigs, 2ndly. 
From an expectation that a war with Great Britain would 
cancel all British debts. 3dly. There were certainly 
Whigs from the facility with which the tender laws 
enabled debtors to pay their creditors in depreciated paper 
money. 4thly, A few men were Whigs from ancient 
or hereditary hostility to persons, or families who were 
Tories; but 5thly. A great majority of the people who 
took part with their country were Whigs from a sincere 
and disinterested love to liberty and justice. 

Both parties differed as much in their conduct as they 
did in the motives which actuated them. There were, ist. 
Furious Tories who had recourse to violence and even to 
arms to oppose the measures of the Whigs. 2ndly. Writ- 
ing and talking Tories. 3dly. Silent, but busy Tories in 
disseminating Tory pamphlets and newspapers and in 
circulating intelligence. 4thly. Peaceable and conscientious 
Tories who patiently submitted to the measures of the 
governing powers, and who shewed nearly equal kindness 
to the distressed of both parties during the war. 



A Memorial 89 

The Whigs were divided by their conduct into, ist. 
Furious Whigs who considered the tarring and feathering 
a Tory a greater duty and exploit than the extermination 
of a British army. These men were generally cowards and 
shrunk from danger when called into the field, by pretend- 
ing sickness, or some family disaster. 2ndly. Speculating 
Whigs. These men infested our public councils as well 
as the army, and did the country great mischief. A Colo- 
nel of a regiment informed a friend of mine that he 
had made a great deal of money by buying poor horses 
for his wagon and selling them again for a large profit, after 
he had fattened them at the public expense. 3dly. Timid 
Whigs ; the hopes of these people rose and fell with every 
victory and defeat of our armies. 4thly. Staunch Whigs; 
these were moderate in their tempers, but firm — inflexible 
and persevering in their conduct. 

There were besides these two classes of people, a great 
number of persons who were neither Whigs nor Tories. 
They had no fixed principles, and accommodated their con- 
duct to their interest, to events, and to their company. 
They were not without their uses. They prevented both 
parties in many instances from the rage of each other, and 
each party always found hospitable treatment from them. 

Perhaps the inhabitants of the United States might 
have been divided nearly into three classes, viz., Tories, 
Whigs, and persons who were neither Whigs nor Tories. 
The Whigs constituted the largest class. The third class 
were a powerful reinforcement to them, after the affairs of 
America assumed a uniformly prosperous appearance. 

I remarked further that many of the children of Tory 
parents were Whigs, so were the Jews in all the States. 

On the 2nd of July the Congress passed a vote declar- 
ing the United States to be free, and independent, and on 
the 4th of the same month they published the declaration 
of independence. 

This act was called by General Green a "bold specula- 
tion." It was happily a successful one. Human wisdom 



90 Benjamin Rush 

has derived more honor from it than it deserves. Most 
of the men who had been active in bringing it about were 
blind actors in the business. Not one man in a thousand 
contemplated or wished for the independence of our country 
in 1774, and but few of those who assented to it foresaw the 
immense influence it would soon have upon the national 
and individual character of the Americans. It would have 
been a truth if God had said it, that "the way of man is not 
in himself and that it is not in man that walketh to direct 
his steps." 

On the 20th of July I took my seat in Congress in con- 
sequence of an appointment received from the Convention 
that met to form a constitution for Pennsylvania. A few 
days afterwards I subscribed a copy upon parchment of the 
declaration of independence. 

I was surprised to observe how little of the spirit of that 
instrument actuated many of the members of Congress who 
had just before subscribed it, proofs of this remark shall be 
given in the characters of several of them in another place. 

I took a part in several debates. The first or second 
time I spoke was against a motion for a Committee of 
Congress, to meet Lord Howe in their private capacity, to 
confer upon a peace with Great Britain. On the same side 
of the question John Adams, Dr. Witherspoon and George 
Ross spoke with uncommon eloquence. The last of those 
gentlemen began his speech by asking — what the conduct 
of George the 3rd would be had Congress proposed to nego- 
ciate with him as Elector of Hanover instead of King of 
Great Britain — he would spurn, and very properly spurn 
the insulting proposal. "Let the American States, said he, 
act in the same manner. We are bound to cherish the 
honor of our country which is now committed to our care. 
Nothing could dishonor the sovereign of Britain, that would 
not in equal circumstances dishonor us." In the conclusion 
of my speech, I said, "that our country was far from being 
in a condition to make it necessary for us to humble our- 
selves at the feet of Great Britain. We had lost a battle, 



A Memorial 9^ 

and a small island but the city and State of New York were 
still in possession of their independence. But suppose that 
State had been conquered, suppose half the States in the 
Union had been conquered — nay, suppose all the States in 
the Union except one had been conquered, still let not that 
one renounce her independence ; but I will go further, — 
should this solitary State, the last repository of our free- 
dom be invaded, let her not survive her precious birthright, 
but in yielding to superior force, let her last breath be spent 
in uttering the word Independence." The speakers in favor 
of the motion were Ed. Rutledge, Thos. Lynch, John Stone, 
and several others. One of them in answer to the conclud- 
ing sentence of my speech, said, "he would much rather 
live with dependence, than die with independence upon 
his lips." The motion was carried with some modification. 
The committee appointed to confer with Lord Howe were 
Dr. Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge. John 
Adams objected for a while to going upon this embassy, 
but was prevailed upon by the minority to consent to it. 
They met on Staten Island, but the conference ended in a 
discovery that Lord Howe had no power to grant us peace, 
upon any other condition than a rescinding the declaration 
of independence. 

The issue of this negotiation demonstrated that the 
time in which the States declared themselves to be inde- 
pendent was the proper one. It prevented their dissolution 
after the defeat and the retreat of the American armies in 
the subsequent summer and autumn. It moreover pro- 
duced a secession of Tories, and timid Whigs from the 
councils of the United States, and left the government of 
the country in the hands of men of fixed and determined 
principles and tempers. Maryland had yielded a little to 
the gloomy complexion of public affairs. She had instructed 
her delegates in Congress to vote for an accommodation 
with Great Britain any measure (meaning independence) to 
the contrary, and one of the delegates said to me in the 
street soon afterwards, that General Howe's proclamation 



92 Benjamin Rush 

contained everything we could wish and that we ought now 
to submit to Great Britain, 

In the debates upon the confederation of the States I 
took a part with those gentlemen who objected to the small 
States having an equal vote with the large ones, and urged 
the necessity of the States being represented according to 
numbers, in order to render liberty equal and durable in 
our country. 

I spoke in several other debates upon questions of less 
magnitude than those which have been mentioned. 

During my attendance in Congress in Philadelphia, I 
had the pleasure of being present at an interview between 
some Chiefs of the Six Nations and Congress in their hall 
in the State House. After a pause of ten minutes, one of 
the Chiefs rose from his seat and pointing to the sun said, 
"The business of this day will end well. Yonder sun rose 
bright this morning. The Great Spirit is propitious to us. 
Brothers, we received the commissioners you sent us, at the 
little council fire at Pittsburgh, we wiped the sweat from 
their bodies, we cleaned the dirt from their legs. We pulled 
the thorns from their feet. We took their staffs from their 
hands and placed them against the tree of peace. We took 
their belts from their waists, and afterwards conducted 
them to the seats of peace." In retiring all shook hands 
with every member of Congress. 

It was while I was in Congress that I was sent for to 
visit a certain Captain, formerly Dr. Smith of the British 
army, who was confined in the new jail as a prisoner. His 
offence was an attempt to excite the Indians to make war 
upon the frontier settlements of our country. He was a 
good deal indisposed and wished very much to be liberated 
from jail upon parole. I honestly and frequently attempted 
to obtain this favor for him, but without success. The preju- 
dices of the Congress were strong and nearly unanimous 
against him. I endeavoured to soothe him under his dis- 
appointment and to render his confinement as easy to him 
as possible until he was exchanged. I have introduced 



A Memorial 93 

these facts in order to contradict an assertion this man 
afterwards published in London respecting my conduct to 
him, in a work which he called travels through the United 
States of America. I recollect a Whig citizen who first 
shewed me his abuse of me in a New York paper in the 
coffee house, said "I was rightly served for I was always 
taking the part of Tory rascals." 

After the retreat of the American army through New 
Jersey, Sir William Howe discovered a design to pursue 
them across the Delaware, and take possession of Phila- 
delphia. Under an apprehension of this event, the Con- 
gress adjourned to meet in Baltimore in the State of 
Maryland. 

Upon the motion for leaving Philadelphia, Samuel 
Adams (who seldom spoke in Congress) delivered a short 
but very animating speech. His feelings raised him fre- 
quently upon his toes at the close of his sentences. There 
was nothing very oratorical in his manner, but what he 
said infused a sudden vigor into the minds of every member 
of the house. 

As soon as Congress adjourned I took measures to 
provide a safe retreat for my family at a relation's house, on 
the Susquehannah in Cecil county in Maryland. I took 
part of my furniture and all my books out of town and left 
them at the house of Philip Price near Derby. At this 
house Sir William Howe made his head-quarters in one of 
his excursions from Philadelphia ; and on one of my mahog- 
any tea tables he wrote his despatches to England, in which 
he gives an account of the events which closed the cam- 
paign of 1776. This table bears the marks of his ink to this 
day. My property received no other injury from him. 
Having left my family with my kinsman Col. Hall, I 
returned hastily to join the Philadelphia Militia who were 
ordered out to reinforce General Washington's army, and 
thus to prevent the reduction of our Capital. I was then 
resolved to stand or fall with my country. I accompanied 
my fellow citizens to Bristol where I remained for some 



94 Benjamin Rush 

time, superintending their health and encouraging them 
to firmness and perseverance in defence of our liberties and 
independence. 

In December I visited General Washington in com- 
pany with Col. Jos. Reed at the General's quarters about 
ID miles above Bristol, and four from the Delaware. I 
spent a night at a farm house near to him and the next 
morning passed near an hour with him in private. He 
appeared much depressed and lamented the ragged and 
dissolving state of his army in affecting terms. I gave him 
assurances of the disposition of Congress to support him, 
under his present difficulties and distresses.* While I was 
talking to him I observed him to play with his pen and ink 
upon several small pieces of paper. One of them by acci- 
dent fell upon the floor near my feet. I was struck with the 
inscription upon it. It was "victory or death." 

On the following evening I was ordered by Gen- 
eral Cadwalader to attend the Militia at Dunks' ferry. 
An attempt was made to cross the Delaware at that place 
by General Cadwalader in order to co-operate with General 
Washington next morning, in an attack upon the Hessians 
who were cantoned in the villages on the Jersey side of 
the river. Great bodies of floating ice rendered the passage 
of the river impracticable. We returned to Bristol in a 
heavy snow storm in the middle of the night. The next 
morning we heard that General Washington had been more 
successful in crossing the river above Trenton, and that 
he had surprised and taken looo Hessians at that place. 
General Cadwalader followed him to the Jersey shore on 
the afternoon of the same day and slept at Burlington with 
his detachment the next night. The next day he marched 
to Bordentown and from thence to Crosswicks where he 
remained for two days. I had reason to believe here, that 
in my interview with General Washington he had probably 
been meditating upon his attack upon the Hessians at their 



*See Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. 2, pages 527, 540, 557, 558 and 
other parts. Also Ramsay, Vol. 2, page 133-134, &c., &c. 



A Memorial 95 

posts on the Jersey side of the Delaware at the time of my 
interview with him, for I found that the countersign of his 
troops at the surprize of Trenton was, "Victory or Death." 
While the Philadelphia Militia lay at Crosswicks, I 
rode to Trenton to spend a day with some of the officers of 
the regular army which still remained there. I alighted at 
General St. Clair's quarters where I dined and spent the 
afternoon with General Mercer and Col. Clement Biddle. 
It was a day which I have ever since remembered with 
pleasure. Col. Biddle gave me the details of the victory at 
Trenton a few days before. The two Generals, both Scotch- 
men, and men of highly cultivated minds, poured forth 
strains of noble sentiments in their conversation. General 
Mercer said "he would not be conquered, but that he would 
cross the mountains and live among the Indians rather than 
submit to the power of Great Britain in any of the civil- 
ized States." In the evening an account was received that 
the British Army then at Princeton intended to attack our 
posts at Trenton and Crosswicks. A council of war was 
held at Gen'l. Washington's quarters to determine what 
steps should be taken to oppose them. A division took place 
in the council upon the question, whether the troops at Cross- 
wicks should be drawn to Trenton or left where they were 
to occasion a diversion of the British forces. Gen'l Knox 
proposed as I was connected with Gen'l Cadwalader's corps, 
I should be called into the council to give an opinion upon 
the question. I was accordingly sent for, and heard from 
Gen'l. Washington a brief state of the controversy. He 
then asked my advice. I said that I was not a judge of 
what was proper in the business before the council, but 
one thing I knew well, that all the Philadelphia militia 
would be very happy in being under his immediate com- 
mand and that I was sure they would instantly obey a sum- 
mons to join his troops at Trenton. After this informa- 
tion I retired, and in a few minutes I was called in again 
and requested by Gen'l. Washington to be the bearer of a 
letter to Gen'l Cadwalader. I readily consented and set off 



96 Benjamin Rush 

for Crosswicks at ten o'clock accompanied by Wm, Hall, 
one of the Philadelphia troop of horse. The weather was 
damp and the roads muddy and the night extremely dark. 
When we came within a mile of Crosswicks we met Col. 
Delany who had the command of the patroles. He rode up 
to me and presenting a cocked pistol to my breast demanded 
who I was. I answered, "an old friend," "I don't know 
you, sir," said he, "tell me your name," still holding his 
pistol to my breast. I then told my name and my business. 
He ordered us to be conducted to Gen'l. Cadwalader's quar- 
ters, to whom in his bed I delivered Gen'l. Washington's 
letter. It was then about one o'clock. He instantly rose 
and set his brigade in motion. We reached Trenton about 
7 o'clock in the morning, I went to Gen'l St, Clair's quar- 
ters and begged the favor of his bed for a few hours. Just 
as I began to sleep an alarm gun was fired at the General's 
door. I started up and the first creature I saw was a black 
woman crying and wringing her hands in my room. She 
was followed by General St. Clair with a composed coun- 
tenance. I asked him what was the matter. He said the 
enemy were advancing, and "what do you intend to do," 
said I, "Why fight them," said he with a smile. He then 
took down his sword, and girded it upon his thigh, with a 
calmness such as I thought seldom took place at the expec- 
tation of a battle. I followed him out of the room and 
mounted my horse in order to join the Philadelphia Militia. 
I met them a little below Trenton, and rode slowly along 
with them towards the enemy. I asked one of them, John 
Chaloner, "how he felt," He answered, "as if I were going 
to sit down to a good breakfast," The greatest part of the 
day was spent by the troops under arms. In the afternoon 
a cannonade began in which several soldiers were wounded. 
All was now hurry, confusion and noise. General Wash- 
ington and his aids rode by the Philadelphia Militia, in all 
the terrible aspect of war. General Mifflin in a blanket 
coat galloped at the head of a body of Pennsylvania Militia. 
He appeared to be all soul. I recollect the ardor with 



A Memorial 97 

which he called to them to quicken their steps. His com- 
mand was not without effect. They ran after him. General 
Knox was active and composed. In passing me he cried 
out, "Your opinion last night was very fortunate for us — 
you have — " I shall not conclude the sentence, for a man 
deserves no credit for an accident in which neither design 
nor judgment are discovered. The cannonade continued 
between the two armies for several hours, towards evening 
a few platoons of musketry were fired. The American 
army retired and left the British in possession of Trenton. 
The scene which accompanied and followed this combat 
was new to me. The first wounded man that came olT the 
field was a New England soldier. His right hand hung a 
little above his wrist by nothing but a piece of skin. It 
had been broken by a cannon ball. I took charge of him 
and directed him to a house on the river which had been 
appropriated for a hospital. In the evening all the wounded, 
about twenty in number, were brought to this hospital and 
dressed by Dr. Cochran, myself, and several young sur- 
geons who acted under our direction. We all laid down 
on some straw in the same room with our wounded patients. 
I slept two or three hours. About four o'clock Dr. Cochran 
went up to Trenton to enquire for our army. He returned 
in haste and said they were not to be found. We now pro- 
cured waggons, and after putting our patients in them 
directed that they should follow us to Bordentown, to 
which place we supposed our army had retreated. At this 
place we heard a firing, we were ignorant from whence it 
came, until next morning, when we heard that General 
Washington had met a part of the British army at Prince- 
ton on his way to the high lands of Morris county in New 
Jersey — through a circuitous route that had been pointed 
out to him the night before by Col. Jos, Read, and that he 
had defeated them. We set off immediately for Princeton, 
and near the town passed over the field of battle, still red 
in many places with human blood. We found a number 
of wounded officers and soldiers belonging to both armies. 

7 



9^ Benjamin Rush 

Among the former was General Mercer, an American, and 
a Captain McPherson, a British officer. They were under 
the care of a British surgeon's mate, who committed them 
both to me. General Mercer had been wounded by a bayonet 
in his belly in several places, but he received a stroke with a 
butt of a musket on the side of his head, which put an end 
to his life a week after the battle. When I went into Cap- 
tain McPherson's room, I was introduced to him by my 
name. "Are you Dr. Rush (said he) Captain Leslie's 
friend?" I told him I was. "Oh! sir (said he) he loved you 
like a brother." This amiable and accomplished young 
man. Captain Leslie, the second son of the Earl of Leven, 
fell in the battle near Princeton. His death had been 
announced to me the morning before by a prisoner who 
belonged to his company. I joined Captain McPherson 
who belonged to the 17th regiment with him in tributes of 
affection and praise to his memory. His body was thrown 
into his baggage waggon, and carried by the American army 
along with them. It was discovered at Pluckamin, In his 
pocket was found a letter from me, in which I had requested 
that if the fortune of war should throw him into the hands 
of the American army, to shew that letter to General Wash- 
ington or General Lee, either of whom would I hoped 
indulge him in a parole, to visit Philadelphia where I 
begged he would make my house his home. This letter 
was carried to General Mifflin, who obtained an order in 
consequence of it to bury him with the honors of war, in 
the churchyard of Pluckamin. In the summer of 1777, I 
visited his grave, and plucked a blade of grass from it,* and 
at the end of the war placed a stone over it with an inscrip- 
tion designating his age, family, rank in the army, and the 
time and manner of his death. 

Captain McPherson was wounded in the lungs. He 
recovered, in consequence of the loss of 140 ounces of blood. 



* I informed his sister Lady Jane Belches of this act in a letter several years 
afterwards. In her answer to this letter she says, " Why did you not send me 
that blade of grass ? I would have preserved its verdure forever with my tears." 



A Memorial 99 

Four British soldiers had their legs amputated by my 
order. They all recovered. 

As soon as my wounded patients were out of danger, 
I set off to attend my duty in Congress. I passed a few 
days with my wife, at my kinsman's, Col. Hall's, on my 
way to Baltimore. 

During the preceding Autumn I had joined Mr. Dickin- 
son and several other of the most enlightened Whigs in 
Pennsylvania in a public testimony against the constitution 
that had been framed by the convention that met for that 
purpose in the Summer. This act had destroyed my popu- 
larity with the Assembly that had convened to legislate 
under that constitution. I remained in the Congress until 
their next meeting at which time I was left out of 
the delegation, I was not offended, nor mortified at this 
event, for I wished to hold a station for which I was better 
qualified and in which I could be more useful to my coun- 
try. The American army had suffered greatly in the cam- 
paign of 1776, from the want of system and perhaps of 
knowledge in the management of the medical department. 
I wished to introduce order and economy into our hospitals, 
and for this purpose recommended the system which time 
and experience had proved to be a good one in the British 
army. Its principal merit and advantages consisted in the 
directing and purveying business being independent of 
each other. In vain did I plead publicly and privately for 
the adoption of this system. Such was the temper of Con- 
gress at that time that its British origin helped to produce 
its rejection. The system established by Congress placed 
the directing or supreme medical power, and the purveyor- 
ship in the same hands. I reluctantly accepted the com- 
mission of physician general of the military hospitals 
under it, and entered upon my duty with a heart devoted 
to the interests of my country. The evils of the system 
soon developed themselves. A fatal hospital fever was 
generated in the month of May in 1777 in the house of 
employment by our sick being too much crowded. Several 
1.. . 



lOO Benjamin Rush 

of the attending surgeons and mates died of it and most of 
them were infected with it. I called upon the Director and 
asked for more rooms for the sick. This was denied. Here 
was the beginning of sufferings and mortality in the Ameri- 
can army which had nearly destroyed it. A physician who 
practices in a hospital or elsewhere should have no check 
upon his prescriptions. Air, water, fire and everything 
necessary to the relief or cure of the sick should be made 
to obey him. The reverse of this was the case in the mili- 
tary hospitals of the United States. No order was given 
or executed for food, medicines, liquors, or even apartments 
for the sick without the consent of the Director General. 
The warmth of summer lessened the evils which were expe- 
rienced from the want of air in our hospitals, for it was 
easy to ventilate them by means of open doors and win- 
dows. I continued therefore to attend the sick during the 
summer months without complaining, I attended in the 
rear at the battle of Brandywine, and had nearly fallen in 
the hands of the enemy by my delay in helping off the 
wounded. A few days after the battle I went with several 
surgeons into the British camp with a flag from Gen'l, 
Washington to dress the wounded belonging to the Ameri- 
can army who were left on the field of battle. Here I saw 
and was introduced to a number of British officers, several 
of them treating me with great politeness. I saw likewise 
within the British lines and conversed for some time with 
Jos. Galloway and several other American citizens who had 
joined the British army. While I was at my quarters I was 
waited upon by Col. Mawhood who said that he was 
deputed to convey to me the thanks of the officers of the 
17th regiment for my care of Captain McPherson after the 
battle of Princeton. 

I retired from the army and lived with my wife and 
one child at her Father's in Princeton. There I led an inac- 
tive and of course a disagreeable life. The village of Prince- 
ton afforded no prospects of business in my profession, and 
I had no desire by changing my place of residence, to enter 



A Memorial loi 

into country practice. In this situation I resolved to study 
the law and come forward to the bar in New Jersey. My 
Father-in-law highly approved of the proposal when I 
mentioned it to him and promised his influence to have me 
admitted to practice in a year or two years at farthest. My 
age, which was then 32, and the labor of acquiring a second 
profession did not discourage me from this undertaking. 
Just as I was preparing to begin my new studies, I heard 
that the British army was preparing to evacuate Philadel- 
phia. This suspended my new enterprize. In a few weeks 
they left the city, and I returned to it with my family on 
the 2ist of July. I now turned my back for a while upon 
public pursuits and devoted myself exclusively to the duties 
of my profession. From the filth left by the British army in 
all the streets, the city became sickly, and I was suddenly 
engaged in extensive and profitable business. 

Before I proceed any further in the narrative of such 
of my transactions as were of a political nature, I shall give 
a short account of those gentlemen who were most con- 
spicuous for their talents and virtues, or for the offices they 
filled between the years 1774 and 1778. I shall begin with 
the characters of the members of Congress who subscribed 
the declaration of independence. They were drawn during 
the war. Some additions have been made to them since, 
which were suggested by subsequent events. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Josiah Bartlett, a practitioner of physic, of excellent 
character and strongly attached to the liberties of his 
country. 

William Whipple, an old sea captain, but liberal in his 
principles and manners, and a genuine friend to liberty and 
independence. 

Matthew Thornton, a practitioner of physic, of Irish 
extraction. He abounded in anecdotes, and was for the 



I02 Benjamin Rush 

most part happy in the application of them. He was igno- 
rant of the world, but was believed to be a sincere patriot 
and an honest man. 

MASSACHUSETTS 

John Hancock. — He was a man of plain understanding 
and good education. He was fond of the ceremonies of 
public life, but wanted industry and punctuality in business. 
His conversation was desultory, and his manners much 
influenced by frequent attacks of the gout which gave a 
hypochondriacal peevishness to his temper. With all these 
infirmities, he was a disinterested patriot, and made large 
sacrifices of an ample estate to the liberties and independ- 
ence of his country. 

Samuel Adams. — He was near sixty years of age when 
he took his seat in Congress, but possessed all the vigor of 
mind of a young man of five and twenty. He was a repub- 
lican in principle and manners. He once acknowledged to 
me "that the independence of the United States upon Great 
Britain had been the first wish of his heart for seven years 
before the war." About the same time he said to me, "if it 
were revealed to him that 999 Americans out of 1000 would 
perish in a war for liberty, he would vote for that war, 
rather than see his country enslaved. The survivors in 
such a war, though few, (he said) would propagate a 
nation of freemen." He abhorred a standing army, and 
used to say they were the "shoe-blacks of society." He 
dreaded the undue influence of an individual in a republic, 
and once said to me; "Let us beware of continental and 
state great men." He loved simplicity and economy in the 
administration of government and despised the appeals 
which are made to the eyes and ears of the common people 
in order to govern them. He considered national happiness 
and the public patronage of religion as inseparably con- 
nected, and so great was his regard for public worship as 
the means of promoting religion, that he constantly at- 
tended divine service in the German Church in Yorktown 



A Memorial 103 

(while Congress sat there) when there was no service in 
their chapel, although he was ignorant of the German lan- 
guage. His morals were irreproachable, and even ambition 
and avarice the usual vices of politicians, seemed to have 
no place in his breast. He seldom spoke in Congress, but 
was active in preparing and doing business out of doors. 
In some parts of his conduct I have thought he discovered 
more of the prejudices of a Massachusetts man, than the 
liberal sentiments of a citizen of the United States. His 
abilities were considerable, and his knowledge extensive 
and correct upon revolutionary subjects, and both friends 
and enemies agree in viewing him as one of the most active 
instruments of the American Revolution. 

John Adams. — He was a distant relation of Samuel 
Adams, but possessed another species of character. He had 
been educated a lawyer, and stood high in his profession 
in his native State. He was a most sensible and forcible 
speaker. Every member of Congress in 1776 acknowledged 
him to be the first man in the house. Dr. Brownson (of 
Georgia) used to say when he spoke, he fancied an angel 
was let down from heaven to illumine the Congress. He 
saw the whole of a subject at a single glance, and by a 
happy union of the powers of reasoning and persuasion 
often succeeded in carrying measures which were at first 
sight of an unpopular nature. His replies to reflections 
upon himself or upon the New England States were replete 
with the most poignant humour or satire, I sat next to him 
while Gen'l. Sullivan was delivering a request to Congress 
from Lord Howe for an interview with a committee of the 
house in their private capacities, after the defeat of the 
American Army on Long Island on the 26 of August 1776. 
Mr. Adams under a sudden impression and dread of the 
consequences of the measure, whispered to me a wish "that 
the first ball that had been fired on the day of the defeat 
of our Army had gone through his head." When he rose 
to speak against the proposed interview, he called Gen'l. Sul- 
livan a "decoy duck whom Lord Howe has sent among us 



I04 Benjamin Rush 

to seduce us into a renunciation of our independence." In 

a debate in which Mr. criminated the New England 

troops as the principal cause of the failure of the expedition 
into Canada in 1775, he said, "the cause of the failure of 
that expedition was chiefly to be ascribed to the impru- 
dence of the gentleman from Maryland who had fomented 
jealousies and quarrels between the troops from the New 
England and Southern States, in his visit to Canada, and 
(said Mr. Adams) if he were now penetrated, as he ought 
to be, with a sense of his improper and wicked conduct, 
he would fall down upon his knees, on this floor, and ask 
our forgiveness. He would afterwards retire with shame, 
and spend the remainder of his life in sackcloth and ashes, 
deploring the mischief he has done his country." He was 
equally fearless of men and of the consequences of a bold 
assertion of his opinions in all his speeches. Upon a motion 
in Congress Feb. 19th 1777 to surrender up to Gen'l. Wash- 
ington the power of appointing his general officers, he said 
in opposition to it. "There are certain principles which 
follow us through life, and none more certainly than the 
love of the first place. We see it in the forms on which 
children sit at schools. It prevails equally to the latest 
period of life. I am sorry to see it prevail so little in this 
house. I have been distressed to see some of our members 
disposed to idolize the image which their own hands have 
molten. I speak here of the superstitious veneration which 
is paid to Gen'l. Washington. I honour him for his good 
qualities, but in this house I feel myself his superior. In 
private life I shall always acknowledge him to be mine." 
He wrote much as well as spoke often and copiously in 
favor of the liberties of his country. All his publications 
and particularly his letter to Mr. Wythe, containing a plan 
of a constitution for Virginia, discover a strong predilection 
for republican forms of government. To be safe, powerful 
and durable he always urged that they should be composed 
of three legislative branches, but that each of them should be 
the offspring directly or indirectly of the suffrages of the peo- 



A Memorial 105 

pie. So great was his disapprobation of a government com- 
posed of a single legislature, that he said to me upon reading 
the first constitution of Pennsylvania. "The people of your 
State will sooner or later fall upon their knees to the King 
of Great Britain to take them again under his protection 
to deliver them from the tyranny of their own government." 
I could mention many conversations with him in which 
he appeared to be actuated by the highest tone of a republi- 
can temper as well as principles. When Congress agreed 
to send commissioners to France and endeavour to make 
a treaty with her, I asked him at his lodgings what he 

thought of Mr. as a commissioner. "I would not vote 

for him (said he) above any man. He idolizes monarchy 
in his heart, and the first thing he would do when he arrived 
in France, would be to fall upon his knees and worship the 
King of France." The independence of the United States 
was first brought before the public mind in 1775 by a letter 
from him to one of his friends in Massachusetts that was 
intercepted and published in Boston in which he expressed 
a wish for that measure. It exposed him to the execrations 
of all the prudent and moderate people in America, inso- 
much that he was treated with neglect by many of his old 
friends. I saw this profound and enlightened patriot who 
in the year 1798 was admired and celebrated in prose and 
verse by the first citizens in Philadelphia, walk our streets 
alone after the publication of his intercepted letter in our 
newspapers in 1775 an object of nearly universal detesta- 
tion. Events soon justified the wish contained in his letter, 
after which he rose in the public estimation, so as to become 
in the subsequent years of the revolution in some measure 
the oracle of the Whigs. He was a stranger to dissimulation, 
and appeared to be more jealous of his reputation for integ- 
rity, than for talents or knowledge. He was strictly moral 
and at all times respectful to religion. In speaking to me 
of the probable issue of the war, he said to me, in Balti- 
more in the winter of 1777; "We shall succeed in our 
struggle, provided we repent of our sins and forsake them," 



io6 Benjamin Rush 

and then added, "I will see it out, or go to Heaven in its 
ruins." He possessed more learning probably, both ancient 
and modern, than any man who subscribed the declaration 
of independence. His reading was various. Even the old 
English poets were familiar to him. He once told me he 
had read all Bolingbroke's works with great attention. He 
admired nothing in them but the style, and to acquire it, 
he said he had when a young man, transcribed his "ideas 
of a patriot king." When he went to Holland to negotiate 
a treaty with that country, he left a blank in Congress. I 
can say but little of his public conduct while he was in 
Europe, but that he was able, faithful and successful in all 
the business that was committed to him. 

I cannot conclude this account of Mr. Adams without 
expressing my obligations to him for the friendship with 
which he honoured me during the whole of his public life 
from 1774 to 1800. I possess a large collection of his let- 
ters written to me in Europe and America which I prize 
as records of his genius and patriotism. There was no 
diminution of our intimacy after he became President of 
United States, nor did his high stations preclude con- 
troversy between us, on subjects upon which we differed, 
especially while he was President. Many delightful even- 
ings have I passed at his house, in listening to the details of 
his public situations at home and abroad, and to anecdotes 
of public men. The pleasure of these evenings was much 
enhanced by the society of Mrs. Adams, who in point of 
talents, knowledge, virtue and female accomplishments, was 
in every respect fitted to be the friend and companion of 
her husband in all his different and successive stations, of 
private citizen, member of Congress, foreign Minister, Vice 
President and President of the United States. 

Robert Treat Paine. — He was educated a clergyman, 
and afterwards became a lawyer. He had a certain ob- 
liquity of understanding which prevented his seeing public 
objects in the same light in which they were seen by other 
people. He seldom proposed anything, but opposed nearly 



A Memorial 107 

every measure that was proposed by other people, and 
hence got the name of "the objection maker" in Congress. 
His temper was amiable, and his speeches and conversa- 
tion often facetious. He was moderate in his feelings for 
his country. This was so much the case, that he told me 
the first time I saw him in 1774 that his constituents con- 
sidered him as one of their "cool devils," He was not- 
withstanding a firm, decided and persevering patriot and 
eminently useful in Congress particularly upon commit- 
tees, in which he was remarkable for his regular and punc- 
tual attendance. 

Elbridge Gerry. — He was a respectable young mer- 
chant, of a liberal education and considerable knowledge. 
He had no local or State prejudices. Every part of his con- 
duct in 1775 & 1776 and 1777 indicated him to be a sensible, 
upright man, and a genuine friend to republican forms of 
government. 



RHODE ISLAND 

William Ellery, a lawyer, somewhat oynical in his 
temper, but a faithful friend to the liberties of his country. 
He seldom spoke in Congress, but frequently amused him- 
self in writing epigrams on the speakers which were gen- 
erally witty and pertinent, and sometimes poetical. Mr. 
Paine had once given in a report in favor of purchasing 
some guns for the United States that were not bored. Some 
time after this, a motion was made to call upon the citizens 
of Philadelphia to furnish ready made clothes for the army, 
for materials to make them could not then be obtained in 
any of the stores. Mr. Paine opposed this motion, by hold- 
ing up to the imagplnation the ridiculous figure our soldiers 
would make when paraded or marching in clothes of dif- 
ferent lengths and colors. While he was speaking Mr. 
Ellery struck off with his pencil, the following lines. 

"Say, O ! my muse — Why all this puzzle 

Talk against /on£ clothes, and give guns without a muzile." 



io8 Benjamin Rush 

Stephen Hopkins, a venerable old man of the Society 
of Friends, of an original understanding, extensive reading, 
and great integrity. He perfectly understood the princi- 
ples of liberty and government and was warmly attached to 
the independence of his country. I once heard him say in 
1776, "the liberties of America would be a cheap purchase 
with the loss of 100,000 lives!" He disliked hearing long 
letters read from the Generals of our Army, and used to say 
"he never knew a General Quillman that was good for any- 
thing." As the result of close observation, he remarked to 
me in walking home from Congress, that he "had never 
known a modest man that was not brave." 

CONNECTICUT 

Roger Shearman, a plain man of slender education. He 
taught himself mathematics, and afterwards acquired some 
property and a good deal of reputation by making alma- 
nacks. He was so regular in business, and so democratic in 
his principles that he was called by one of his friends "a 
republican machine." Patrick Henry asked him in 1774 
why the people of Connecticut were more zealous in the 
cause of liberty than the people of the other States; he 
answered "because we have more to lose than any of them." 
"What is that," said Mr. Henry. "Our beloved charter," 
replied Mr. Shearman. He was not less distinguished for 
his piety, than his patriotism. He once objected to a motion 
for Congress sitting on Sunday upon an occasion which he 
thought did not require it, and gave as a reason for his 
objection a regard for the commands of his Maker. Upon 
hearing of the defeat of the American army on Long Island, 
where they were entrenched and fortified by a chain of hills, 
he said to me, in coming out of Congress, "Truly in vain is 
salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude 
of mountains."* 

Samuel Huntingdon. A sensible, candid and worthy 
man, and wholly free from State prejudices. 

• Jeremiah. 



A Memorial 109 

William Williams. A well meaning man but often mis- 
led by State prejudices. 

Oliver Wolcott. A worthy man of great modesty, and 
sincerely attached to the interests of his country. 

NEW YORK. 

William Floyd, a mild and decided republican. He 
seldom spoke in Congress, but always voted with the zeal- 
ous friends to liberty and independence. 

Philip Livingston, a blunt but honest man. He was 
supposed to be unfriendly to the declaration of independ- 
ence, when it took place, but he concurred afterwards in 
all the measures that were adopted to support it. He was 
very useful in committees where a knowledge in figures 
on commercial subjects was required. A secret of Con- 
gress having transpired, he proposed that every member 
of Congress should declare -upon oath that he had not 
divulged it, in order that the rascal (to use his own words) 
"might add the sin of perjury to that of treachery, and 
thereby damn his soul forever." 

Francis Lewis, a moderate Whig, but a very honest 
man, and very useful in executive business. 

Lewis Morris, a cheerful, amiable man, and a most dis- 
interested patriot. He had three sons at one time in the 
army, and suffered the loss of many thousand pounds by 
the depredations of the British army, upon his property 
near New York without repining. Every attachment of 
his heart yielded to his love of his country. 



NEW JERSEY 

Richard Stockton. An enlightened politician, and a 
correct and graceful speaker. He was timid where bold 
measures were required, but was at all times sincerely 
devoted to the liberties of his country. He loved law, and 
order, and once offended his constituents by opposing the 



no Benjamin Rush 

seizure of private property in an illegal manner by an officer 
of the army. He said after the treaty with France took 
place, "that the United States were placed in a more eligible 
situation by it, than they had been during their connection 
with Great Britain." His habits as a lawyer, and a Judge 
(which office he had filled under the British government) 
produced in him a respect for the British Constitution ; but 
this did not lessen his attachment to the Independence of 
the United States. 

John Witherspoon. — A well informed statesman, and 
remarkably luminous and correct in all his speeches. His 
influence was less than might have been expected from his 
abilities and knowledge owing in part to his ecclesiastical 
character. He was a zealous Whig, but free from the illib- 
erality which sometimes accompanies zeal. In a report 
brought into Congress by a member from Virginia, George 
the 3d was called the "tyrant of Britain." Dr. Witherspoon 
objected to the word "tyrant," and moved to substitute king 
in its room. He gave as reasons for his objection, "That the 
epithet was both false and nndigniHed. It was false, because 
George 3d was not a tyrant in Great Britain ; on the contrary 
he was beloved and respected by his subjects in Great Brit- 
ain, and perhaps the more, for making war upon us. It was 
undignified, because it did not become one sovereign power 
to abuse or use harsh epithets, when it spoke of another." 
The motion was negatived, and the amendment proposed 
by Dr. Witherspoon adopted. 

Francis Hopkinson. An ingenious agreeable man. He 
took but a small part in the business of Congress, but served 
his country very essentially by many of his publications 
during the war. 

John Hart. A plain, honest, well-meaning Jersey 
farmer, with but little education, but with good sense and 
virtue enough to discover the true interests of his country. 

Abraham Clark, a sensible, but cynical man. He was 
uncommonly quick sighted in seeing the weakness and 
defects of public men and measures. He was attentive to 



A Memorial m 

business, and excelled in drawing up reports and resolutions. 
He was said to study more to please the people than to pro- 
mote their real and permanent interests. He was warmly 
attached to the liberties and independence of his country. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Robert Morris. A bold, sensible, and agreeable speaker. 
His perceptions were quick and his judgments sound upon 
all subjects. He was opposed to the time (not the act) of the 
declaration of independence, but he yielded to no man in his 
exertions to support it, and a year after it took place, he 
publicly acknowledged on the floor of Congress, that he had 
been mistaken in his former opinion as to its time, and said 
that it would have been better for our country had it been 
declared sooner. He was candid and liberal in a debate, so 
as always to be respected by his opponents, and sometimes 
to offend the members of the party with whom he generally 
voted. By his extensive commercial knowledge and con- 
nections he rendered great services to his country in the 
beginning, and by the able manner in which he discharged 
the duties of financier, he revived and established her credit 
on the close of the revolution. In private life he was 
friendly, sincere, generous and charitable, but his peculiar 
manners deprived him of much of that popularity which 
usually follows great exploits of public and private virtue. 

Benjamin Rush. He aimed well.* 

Benjamin Franklin. He seldom spoke in Congress, but 
was useful in committees in which he was punctual and 
indefatigable. He was a firm republican, and treated kingly 
power at all times with ridicule and contempt. He early 
declared himself in favor of independence. John Adams 
used to say he was more of a philosopher than a politician. 
I sat next to him in Congress, when he was elected by the 
unanimous vote of every State in the Union to an embassy 
to the Court of France in the year 1776. When the vote 
was declared, I congratulated him upon it. He thanked me, 

*Dr. Rush's estimate of himself. 



112 Benjamin Rush 

and said, "I am like the remnant of a piece of unsaleable 
cloth. You may have it, as the shopkeepers say, for what 
you please." He was then 70 years of age. His services to 
his country in effecting the treaty with France were highly 
appreciated at the time that event took place. He was 
treated with great respect by the French Court. A letter 
from Paris written while he was there, contained the fol- 
lowing expressions. "Dr. Franklin seldom goes to Court, 
when he does he says but little, but what he says, flies by the 
next post to every part of the kingdom." 

John Morton. A plain farmer, but from his former sta- 
tion as a Judge, was well acquainted with the principles of 
government, and public business. His hatred to the new 
Constitution of Pennsylvania, and his anticipation of its 
evils were such, as to bring on a political hypochondriasis 
which it was said put an end to his life a year or two after 
the declaration of independence. 

George Clymer. A cool, firm, consistent republican 
who loved liberty and government with an equal affection. 
Under the appearance of manners that were cold and indo- 
lent he concealed a mind that was always warm and active 
towards the interests of his country. He was well informed 
in history ancient and modern and frequently displayed 
flashes of wit and humor in conversation. His style in writ- 
ing was simple, correct and sometimes eloquent. "The 
mould in which this man's mind was cast (to use the words 
of Lord Peterborough when speaking of Wm. Law) was 
seldom used." 

James Smith, a pleasant, facetious lawyer. His speeches 
in Congress were in general declamatory, but from their 
humour, frequently entertaining. 

George Taylor. A respectable country gentleman. Not 
active in Congress. 

James Wilson. An eminent lawyer and a great and 
enlightened statesman. He had been educated for a clergy- 
man in Scotland, and was a profound and accurate scholar. 
He spoke often in Congress, and his eloquence was of the 



A Memorial 113 

most commanding kind. He reasoned, declaimed and per- 
suaded, according to circumstances, with equal effect. His 
mind while he spoke, was one blaze of light. Not a word 
ever fell from his lips out of time, or out of place, nor could 
a word be taken from or added to his speeches without 
injuring them. He rendered great and essential services to 
his country in every stage of the Revolution. 

George Ross. A man of great wit, good humour and 
considerable eloquence. His manner in speaking was agree- 
able and commanded attention. He disliked business, and 
hence he possessed but little influence in Congress. 



DELAWARE 

Caesar Rodney. A plain man of good judgment and 
agreeable conversation; and sincerely devoted to the wel- 
fare of his country. 

George Read. A lawyer of gentle manners and con- 
siderable talents and knowledge. He was firm, without vio- 
lence, in all his purposes, and was much respected by all his 
acquaintances. 

MARYLAND 

Samuel Chase. This man's life and character was a 
good deal checkered. He rendered great services to his 
country, by awakening and directing the public spirit of his 
native State in the first years of the Revolution. He pos- 
sessed more learning than knowledge, and more of both than 
judgment. His person and attitude in speaking were grace- 
ful and his elocution commanding, but his speeches were 
more oratorial than logical. 

William Paca. A good tempered worthy man, with a 
sound understanding which he was too indolent to exercise ; 
and hence his reputation in public life was less than his 
talents. He was beloved and respected by all who knew 
him, and considered at all times as a sincere patriot and hon- 
est man. 

8 



114 Benjamin Rush 

Thomas Stone. An able lawyer, and a friend to uni- 
versal liberty. He spoke well, but was sometimes mistaken 
upon plain subjects. I once heard him say, "he had never 
known a single instance of a negro being contented in 
slavery." 

Charles Carroll, an inflexible patriot, and an honest, 
independent friend to his country. He had been educated 
at St. Omer's, and professed considerable learning. He sel- 
dom spoke, but his speeches were sensible and correct, and 
delivered in an oratorial manner. 

VIRGINIA 

George Wythe. A profound lawyer, and able politician. 
He seldom spoke in Congress, but when he did, his speeches 
were sensible, correct and pertinent. I have seldom known 
a man possess more modesty, or a more dovelike simplicity 
and gentleness of manner. He lived many years after he 
left Congress, the pride and ornament of his native State. 

Richard Henry Lee, a frequent, correct and pleasing 
speaker. He was very useful upon committees, and active 
in expediting business. He made the motion for the declara- 
tion of independence, and was ever afterwards one of its 
most zealous supporters. 

Thomas Jefferson. He possessed a genius of the first 
order. It was universal in its objects. He was not less dis- 
tinguished for his political, than his mathematical and philo- 
sophical knowledge. The objects of his benevolence were 
as extensive as those of his knowledge. He was not only 
the friend of his country, but of all nations and religions. 
While Congress were deliberating upon the measure of 
sending commissioners to France, I asked him, "What he 
thought of being one of them." He said, "he would go to 
hell to serve his country." He was afterwards elected a 
commissioner, but declined it at that time on account of 
the sickness of his wife. He seldom spoke in Congress, but 
was a member of all the important committees. He was the 
penman of the declaration of independence. He once 



A Memorial 115 

shewed me the original in his own handwriting. It con- 
tained a noble testimony against negro slavery which was 
struck out in its passage through Congress. He took notes 
of all the debates upon the declaration of independence and 
the first confederation. 

Benjamin Harrison. He was well acquainted with the 
forms of public business. He had strong State prejudices 
and was very hostile to the leading characters from the New 
England States. In private life he preferred pleasure and 
convivial company to business of all kinds. His taste in this 
respect was discovered in a letter to Genl. Washington, 
which was intercepted and published in Boston. He was 
upon the whole a useful member of Congress, sincerely 
devoted to the welfare of his country. 

Thomas Nelson. A respectable country gentleman, 
with excellent dispositions both in public and private life. 
He was educated in England, He informed me that he was 
the only person out of nine or ten Virginians that were sent 
with him to England for education that had taken a part in 
the American Revolution. The rest were all Tories. 

Francis Lightfoot Lee. He was brother to Richard 
Henry Lee, but possessed I thought a more acute and cor- 
rect mind. He often opposed his brother in a vote, but 
never spoke in Congress. I seldom knew him wrong event- 
ually upon any question, Mr. Madison informed me that he 
had observed the same thing in many silent members of 
public bodies. 

Carter Braxton. He was not deficient in political infor- 
mation, but was suspected of being less detached than he 
should be from his British prejudices. He was an agree- 
able and sensible speaker, and in private life an accom- 
plished gentleman. 

NORTH CAROLINA 

Joseph Hcwes, a plain, worthy merchant, and well 
acquainted with business. He seldom spoke in Congress, 
but was very useful upon committees. 



ii6 Benjamin Rush 

William Hooper, a sensible, sprightly young lawyer and 
a rapid but correct speaker. 

John Penn. A good humoured man, very talkative in 
company, but seldom spoke in Congress. He was honest, 
and warmly attached to the liberties of his country. 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

Edward Rutledge. A sensible young lawyer, of great 
volubility in speaking, and very useful in the business of 
Congress. 

Thomas He5rward, Junr. A firm republican of good 
education and most amiable manners. He possessed an 
elegant poetical genius, which he sometimes exercised with 
success upon the various events of the war, 

Thomas Lynch, Junr. A man of moderate talents, and 
not bold in difficult circumstances of his country. 

Arthur Middleton. A man of cynical temper, but of 
upright intentions towards his country. He had been edu- 
cated in England and was a critical Latin and Greek scholar. 
He read Horace and other classics during his recess from 
Congress. He spoke frequently, and always with asperity 
or personalities. He disliked business, and when put upon 
the committee of accounts he refused to serve, and gave as 
a reason for it that, "he hated accounts — that he did not 
even keep his own accounts, and that he knew nothing 
about them." 

GEORGIA 

Button Guinett. A zealous democrat. He carried a 
copy of the first constitution of Pennsylvania with him to 
Georgia, where he had address enough to get it adopted. 
He fell soon afterwards in a duel in that State. 

Lyman Hall, a native of Connecticut, and strongly 
impressed with the principles and habits of republicanism 
which then prevailed in that State. He was a man of con- 
siderable learning, with an excellent judgment and very 
amiable manners. 



'A Memorial 117 

George Walton. A sensible young man. He pos- 
sessed knowledge and a pleasing manner of speaking. He 
was the youngest member of Congress being not quite three 
and twenty when he signed the declaration of independence. 
He filled the offices of Governor and Chief Justice for many 
years in Georgia, and evinced in his public conduct the same 
attachment to government and order that he had done in 
1776 to liberty and independence. 

The act for renouncing the allegiance to the King of 
Great Britain by the declaration of independence has ever 
been considered as a very bold one. It was done in the face 
of a powerful army, with but slender resources for war, and 
without any assurance of foreign aid. The first vote in 
favor of it was carried by the majority of a single State, 
which places it upon a footing with several of the first politi- 
cal events that have occurred in the world. The States that 
ripened most rapidly into a willingness to adopt the measure, 
were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode 
Island, Virginia and Georgia. New Jersey and Pennsylva- 
nia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, Maryland 
and New York, followed in the order in which they have 
been named. I speak of the delegates of those States only, 
not of the people who composed them. Upon all great 
national questions the four Eastern States, Virginia and 
Georgia concurred in their votes. Thirty-four out of fifty- 
four of the men who signed the declaration of independence 
died before the year 1800. 

I shall now mention some of the leading traits of the 
characters of several other persons, who were active in the 
first years of the American Revolution. What will be said 
of them shall be from personal knowledge and fellowship of 
labors with them. 

John Dickinson. Few men wrote, spoke and acted 
more for their country from the year 1764 to the establish- 
ment of the federal government, than Mr. Dickinson. He 
was alike eloquent at the bar, in a popular assembly and in 
conversation. Count Winguiski a Polish nobleman who 



ii8 Benjamin Rush 

travelled through the United States soon after the peace, 
said, "he was the most learned man he had met with in 
America." He possessed the air of a camp, and the ease of 
the court in his manners. He was opposed to the declara- 
tion of independence at the time it took place, but concurred 
in supporting it. During the war and for some years after 
it, he admired and preferred the British Constitution. 
Towards the close of his life, he became a decided and zeal- 
ous republican. 

Charles Thompson. A man of great learning and gen- 
eral knowledge, at all times a genuine republican, and in 
the evening of his life a sincere Christian. He was the inti- 
mate friend of John Dickinson. He was once told in my 
presence, that he ought to write a history of the revolution. 
"No (said he) I ought not, for I should contradict all the 
histories of the great events of the revolution, and shew by 
my account of men, motives and measures, that we are wholly 
indebted to the agency of Providence for its successful issue. 
Let the world admire the supposed wisdom and valor of our 
great men. Perhaps they may adopt the qualities that 
have been ascribed to them and thus good may be done. I 
shall not undeceive future generations." 

Thomas Mifflin. Those who knew this man in the close 
of the revolution and in the evening of his life, will hardly 
believe, what is strictly true, that he possessed genius, knowl- 
edge, eloquence, patriotism, courage, self-government and 
an independent spirit, in the first years of the war. He 
was extremely useful in the gloomy winter of 1776 by rally- 
ing the drooping courage of the militia of his native State, 
which he did by riding through all the populous counties, 
and exhorting them to turn out to check the progress of the 
British army. His influence was much promoted by an 
elegant person, an animated countenance and popular man- 
ners. Had he fallen in battle in the year 1778, he would 
have ranked with Warren and the first patriots and heroes 
of the revolution. 

General Charles Lrce. His character was a medley of 



A Memorial 119 

opposite and contradictory qualities. He loved and admired 
public virtue, but was addicted to many private vices. He 
was obscene, profane and at all times impious in his con- 
versation. His avarice discovered itself in every transaction 
of his life. He studied singularity and eccentricity in his 
dress, appetite, accommodations, style of writing, speaking 
and swearing. Even his Will partook of this weakness in 
his character. He had many successive intimates whom he 
called friends, but he appeared to have no affection for any- 
thing human, A troop of dogs which he permitted to follow 
him everywhere seemed to engross his whole heart. He des- 
pised prudence and used to call it a rascally virtue. With 
all these vices and oddities, he was sincere and no one ever 
detected him in a lie, or even in an equivocation. He like- 
wise possessed courage which he evinced in many battles 
and duels in different parts of the world. His genius was 
considerable, and his attainments great in classical learning, 
and in modern languages. He was eloquent and at times 
witty and brilliant in conversation. He was useful in the 
beginning of the war, by inspiring our citizens with military 
ideas, and lessening in our soldiers their superstitious fear 
of the valor and discipline of the British Army. When he 
heard of the sentence of the court martial which suspended 
him from his command he said, "Oh ! that I were a dog, that 
I might not call man my brother." 

General Horatio Gates. Though born in England and 
educated in the British Army, he was a genuine republican, 
and a sincere friend to the independence of the United 
States. He was a correct officer, and not deficient in mili- 
tary skill. His conquest of Burgoyne ruined his character 
by exciting envy. His defeat at Camden gave more pleasure 
than pain to thousands — inasmuch as it brought him back to 
a level with his colleagues in war. His secretary said to 
me after that defeat, "that it was happy for him he had been 
unfortunate — for had he been again successful, he would 
have been crucified." He possessed some learning, a great 
deal of reading, and talents for extensive and accurate obser- 



I20 Benjamin Rush 

vation. His conversation abounded in anecdotes and was 
entertaining upon all subjects. He was accused of wishing 
to supplant General Washington, by aiming to place Gen- 
eral Mifflin at the head of the army. From an intimate 
knowledge of him I believe that this charge was without 
foundation. He had many pertinent common sayings, 
which he applied to the affairs of the world. Two of them I 
recollect were, "Parties like armies receive all able-bodied 
men", and "The world will do its own business." 

General Nathaniel Green. He was a pupil of Genl. Lee, 
and afterwards the privy counsellor of Genl. Washington. 
Genius supplied in him the place of a learned education. 
He was active and intelligent, but thought more than he felt, 
and hence he was said to be more qualified for the cabinet 
than the field. His temper was gentle, and his manners 
engaging. He was beloved and respected by all who knew 
him. 

General Henry Knox. A brave and intelligent officer, 
and an open hearted, honest hearted man. 

Lord Sterling. A learned sensible man, but somewhat 
vain and like Charles 2nd apt to tire his company by a repeti- 
tion of the same stories. He was prudent and wise in coun- 
cil, and brave in the field. His manners were gentle and 
agreeable. His misfortunes before the war had led him to 
seek relief in toddy, with which he sometimes impaired his 
judgment. Congress honoured him with a vote of appro- 
bation and praise after his death. 

General McDougall. Nature, and an application to 
books late in life did wonders for this man. He possessed 
genius, knowledge and uncommon fervor of mind tempered 
by a solid judgment. Genl. Lee used to say, he was the 
only cool headed enthusiast he had ever known in his life. 
He loved liberty above all things, but he was an enemy to 
mob governments. His person was dignified and his con- 
versation sensible and methodical, but somewhat formal, 
produced by a slight stammering in his speech. He per- 
formed but few services to his country in the field, but 



A Memorial 121 

was extremely useful to her in the cabinet. His talents 
were less active, than contemplative, and judicial. 

Commodore Jno. Paul Jones. He united in his military 
character the boldness which is produced by madness, — the 
bravery which is the effect of animal spirits — and the cour- 
age, which is the result of reflection. He once put into my 
hands a history of his naval exploits. He exulted in having 
first hoisted the American flag on board the first armed 
vessel that was commissioned by the United States. I 
heard him give a minute account of his engagement with 
the Serapis in a small circle at a dinner. It was delivered 
with great apparent modesty, and commanded the most 
respectful attention. Towards the close of the battle while 
his deck was swimming in blood, the Captain of the Serapis 
called him to strike. "No sir, said he, — I will not, — we 
have had but a small fight as yet." He had been well edu- 
cated in Scotland (his native country) and discovered style 
and taste both in writing and conversation. His counte- 
nance was strongly marked with thought. I know nothing 
of his private character. 

General Arnold. I lodged three weeks in the same 
family with this man in Philadelphia in the Spring of 1777. 
His person was low but well made, and his face handsome. 
His conversation was uninteresting, and sometimes indeli- 
cate. His language was ungrammatical and his pronunci- 
ation vulgar. I once heard him say, "his courage was 
acquired, and that he was a coward until he was fifteen 
years of age." His character in his native State, Connecti- 
cut, was never respectable, and hence its vote alone was 
withheld from him when he was created a General by the 
Congress of the United States. His public vices are 
recorded in the printed histories of the American revolution. 

Soon after the British Army left Philadelphia an 
attempt was made by a number of citizens to alter and 
amend the constitution of Pennsylvania, which had been 
formed in haste. Those citizens united themselves into 
what they called a republican society. I became a member 



122 Benjamin Rush 

of it. They were soon afterwards opposed by a numerous 
class of citizens who styled themselves constitutionalists, 
and who were attached to the constitution of the State. 
Their contest about the constitution soon ended, for it was 
supported by being exclusively in the hands of its friends, 
who did not see its defects or who were too much interested 
to acknowledge it required any amendment, especially at 
the time in which it was proposed. The government of the 
State, as was natural, where all legislative power is lodged 
in a single body of men, was administered in an arbitrary 
manner. Test, and other laws of an unconstitutional nature 
were passed, and even outrages upon the persons and 
property of peaceful citizens, contrary to law, were com- 
mitted with impunity. These oppressions produced a con- 
test for the power of the State which ended in a few years 
in the success of the party who had called themselves 
Republicans. By my activity in this struggle I made many 
enemies, and became the subject of much newspaper abuse. 
My labors were not lost. The light which was thrown upon 
the subject of government, by the controversy in which I 
bore a part, finally produced the present form of the con- 
stitution of Pennsylvania. 

From this period until the year 1786 I passed my time 
chiefly in my professional studies and labors. The situ- 
ation of the United States during this time was far from 
being an agreeable one. The weakness of the confederation, 
and the injustice of most of the States, in enforcing the cir- 
culation of paper money by tender laws, had limited the 
commerce of our country, and produced universal distress 
in our cities. In the year 1788 there were one thousand 
empty houses in Philadelphia. Bricklayers and house car- 
penters and all the mechanics and labourers who are depend- 
ent upon them were unemployed. The value of property in 
and near the city was two-thirds less than before the year 
1774. Bankruptcies were numerous and beggars were to 
be seen at the doors of the opulent in every street of our 
city. Taxes were heavy and subscriptions for the relief 



A Memorial 123 

of the poor still more oppressive. In this melancholy state 
of our country it occurred to thinking men that all her evils 
originated in the weakness of the general government. 
These evils were pointed out in many publications, in all the 
States, and a convention was finally called to correct the 
defects of the confederation. While they were sitting in 
the year 1787, I received a letter from Mr. Dickinson who 
was a member of the convention calling me to come for- 
ward in support of the proposed Constitution of the United 
States. I had heard enough of its form and principles to 
be satisfied with it and readily obeyed the call of my 
friend by recommending and defending it in a number of 
addresses to the citizens of the United States. The zeal 
I had discovered in my publications and speeches at town 
meetings, induced the citizens of Philadelphia to elect me 
a member of the convention that met in Pennsylvania to 
adopt, or reject the proposed Constitution. It was adopted 
by a vote of two-thirds of the convention, but its execution 
was opposed by the minority, who dissented from its adop- 
tion. I continued to write in its favor until it was adopted 
by all the States. In this labor I was assisted and exceeded 
by Mr. Dickinson under the signature of Fabius, and by 
Tench Coxe under a variety of signatures. Their perform- 
ances did equal honor to themselves and to the State of 
Pennsylvania. The opponents to the establishment of the 
Constitution, were the same men who had established and 
adhered to the first Constitution of Pennsylvania, and of 
course hostile to the men who wrote in defence of it. 

I had resolved and repeatedly declared I would close 
my political labors with the establishment of a safe and effi- 
cient general government. I considered this as an act of 
consistency, for to assist in making a people free, without 
furnishing them with the means of preserving their freedom, 
would have been doing them more harm than good, and 
would have justly exposed me to their reproaches. I now 
realized my long contemplated purpose, and in the year 1789 
took leave of political life, I hope, forever. 



124 Benjamin Rush 

I review the time I spent in the service of my country 
with pleasure and pain, I derive pleasure from the recollec- 
tion of the integrity of all my public pursuits. I sought 
no honors, and repeatedly refused the offer of profitable 
offices between the year 1774 and 1789. I befriended the 
persecuted and distressed enemies of the revolution, and 
rescued many of them from ruin and banishment by my 
influence with the governing powers. I obtained offices and 
favors for many hundred persons from the new governments 
of our country. But this constituted but a part of the pleas- 
ure I enjoyed in my political pursuits. I was animated 
constantly by a belief that I was acting for the benefit of 
the whole world, and of future ages, by assisting in the 
formation of new means of political order and general happi- 
ness. Whether my belief as far as it relates to the last 
great object will be realized, or not, is yet a secret in the 
womb of time. Late events have at times induced me to 
believe my hopes were visionary and my labors lost, and 
with them the more valuable labors of all the patriots and 
the blood of all the heroes of the revolution. At other times 
I have consoled myself by recollecting that the seeds of all 
the great changes, for the better, in the condition of man- 
kind, have been sowed, years, and centuries before they 
came to pass. I still believe the American revolution to be 
big with important consequences to the world, and that 
the labor of no individual however feeble his contributions 
to it were, could not have been spared. It was said by 
the philanthropic Dr. Jebb, "that no good effort was lost." 
Still less can it be true, that the American revolution will 
be an abortive event in the government of the world. 

I feel pain in a review of my political life, when I recol- 
lect the unfriendly influence which party spirit (the unavoid- 
able concomitant of politics) had upon my moral and social 
feelings, and the controversies, and enmities to which it 
exposed me. In estimating the services of public men, let 
public gratitude swell to its highest pitch, when the diminu- 
tion or loss of benevolent feelings and the pain of public 



A Memorial 125 

slander and private disputes are mentioned, property and 
even life itself are light as a feather when weighed in the 
opposite scale to them. 

Having briefly stated many of the literary, medical and 
political events of my life, it remains only that I say a few 
words upon my religious principles. 

Religious Convictions 

I was baptized by the Rev. Eneas Ross, an Episcopal 
minister, and heard divine worship for the first time in 
Christ's Church in Philadelphia. After the death of my 
father, I went with my mother to the Rev, Mr. Tennent's 
meeting which was held in the building afterwards con- 
verted into a college and university in Fourth Street. My 
mother was a constant attendant upon his Presbyterian 
place of worship and educated her children in the principles 
taught by him which were highly Calvinistical. 

At Dr. Finley's school, I was more fully instructed in 
those principles by means of the Westminster catechism. I 
retained them without any affection for them until about 
the year 1780. I then read for the first time Fletcher's con- 
troversy with the Calvinists, in favor of the universality of 
the atonement. This prepared my mind to admit the doc- 
trine of universal salvation, which was then preached in 
our city by the Rev. Mr. Winchester, It embraced and 
reconciled my ancient Calvinistical and my newly adopted 
Arminian principles. From that time I have never doubted 
upon the subject of the salvation of all men. My conviction 
of the truth of this doctrine was derived from reading the 
works of Stonehouse, Seigvolk, White, Chauncey and Win- 
chester, and afterwards from an attentive perusal of the 
Scriptures. I always admitted with each of those authors 
future punishment, and of long duration. 

The early part of my life was spent in dissipation, folly, 
and in the practice of some of the vices to which young men 
are prone. The weight of that folly and those vices has 
been felt in my mind ever since. They have often been 



126 Benjamin Rush 

deplored in tears and sighs before God. It was from a deep 
and affecting sense of one of them, that I was first led to 
seek the favor of God in his Son in the twenty-first year of 
my age. It was thus the woman of Samaria was brought to 
a repentance of all her sins by the Son of God reminding 
her of but one of them, viz. — her living criminally with a 
man who was not her husband. 

The religious impressions that were made upon my 
mind at this time were far from issuing in a complete union 
to God by his Son Jesus Christ, but they left my mind more 
tender to sin of every kind, and begat in me constant desires 
for a new heart and a sense of God's mercy in the way of 
his gospel. Religious company now became most agreeable 
to me, and I delighted in public worship and particularly in 
hearing evangelical ministers of all denominations. I made 
conscience of secret prayer from that time, nor do I recollect 
to have passed a day without it, while in health to the 
present year 1800. But I am sorry to add my devotion was 
often a mere form, and carelessly and irreverently per- 
formed. I lost a great deal of spiritual sensibility while I 
was abroad. Travelling is unfavorable to the growth and 
even to the existence of religion in the soul. Thousands I 
believe have lost their all by it. 

The scenes of my political life were likewise unfavor- 
able to the divine life in my soul. Often, very often have I 
deplored them. 

About the year 1786 I thought I felt some comfortable 
views of the love of God. My soul was drawn out to 
him, in constant aspirations. I now felt a strong desire to 
partake of the Lord's Supper. In consequence of my having 
renounced the Calvinistical opinions of the Presbyterians, I 
did not expect to be admitted to commune with them, I 
therefore submitted to confirmation with my dear wife in 
the month of February 1788 and a few days afterwards 
received the blessed signs of the death of Jesus Christ in St. 
Peter's Church. I was deeply impressed with this solem- 
nity. In consequence of rising a night or two before and 



A Memorial 127 

going out too thinly clothed, I was attacked upon my return 
from church by a severe pleurisy, which had nearly put an 
end to my life. I realized death. My faith it is true, was 
weak, but my hopes in the mercy of God, in a Redeemer, 
were strong. It pleased God to restore me and for some 
time afterwards to continue upon my mind a considerable 
sense of divine things. In consequence of an alteration 
made in the forms of baptism and the communion service, — 
the former admitting infant regeneration, and the latter 
favoring transubstantiation, I declined after a year or two 
communing in the church, and had my children baptized by 
Presbyterian ministers. I still attended public worship in 
the Episcopal church, and occasionally in the Presbyterian 
churches; but alas! with coldness and formality. I was 
under the influence of an unholy temper and often wounded 
the peace of my mind by yielding to it. During the fever 
of 1793 my mind was strongly impressed with a sense of 
divine things. I was animated by a hope in God's mercy, 
the psalms were made comfortable to me. I read them 
every day. I lament that the good impressions I then 
felt soon wore away. To this the impatience I felt under 
the opposition and hostility of my medical brethren chiefly 
contributed. The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the 
wisest rules for just conduct in every situation in life. 
Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations ! 
Of the poor services I have rendered to any of my fel- 
low creatures I shall say nothing. They were full of imper- 
fections, and have no merit in the sight of God. I pray to 
have the sin that was mixed with them forgiven. My only 
hope of salvation is in the infinite and transcendent love of 
God manifested to the world by the death of his Son upon 
the cross. Nothing but his blood will wash away my sins. 
I rely exclusively upon it. — (Come Lord Jesus ! come 
quickly ! and take home thy lost, but redeemed creature ! I 
will believe, I will hope in thy salvation ! Amen and Amen !) 



128 Benjamin Rush 

DOMESTIC EVENTS 

I have taken notice of my marriage to Julia Stockton 
daughter of Richard Stockton, Esqr. of New Jersey, on the 
nth of January 1775. She was then between sixteen and 
seventeen years of age. I was between thirty and thirty- 
one. The children of our marriage are recorded in two 
family bibles. 

Let me here bear testimony to the worth of this excel- 
lent woman. She fulfilled every duty as a wife, mother and 
mistress with fidelity and integrity. To me she was always 
a sincere and honest friend. Had I yielded to her advice 
upon many occasions, I should have known less distress 
from various causes in my journey through life. I have 
endeavoured to reward and honor her in my will. May God 
reward and bless her with an easy and peaceful old age if 
she should survive me, and after death confer upon her 
immediate and eternal happiness ! 

On the 2nd of July, 1795, my dear mother died in the 
seventy-eighth year of her age. She had lived with me 
several years before her death, and was very useful in my 
family. Her company was at all times delightful, for she 
retained the vigor of her faculties to the last day of her life. 
Even her memory was not impaired. Two days after her 
death, I ventured my feelings in a letter to my good friend 
Mrs. Ferguson of which the following is a copy. It was 
dated July 4th, 1795. After mentioning her, I proceeded by 
informing her that her last words were, "Sweet Jesus !"* 

I saw her draw her last breath and oh ! my dear 
Madam, never did my heart swell with so many and such 
various emotions! Yesterday I went into her room, and 
took my last view of her beloved corpse. She was comely 
even in death. I fixed my eyes upon the seat of her heart, 



* She retained her speech and senses until within a few minutes before her 
death. Two days before she died, she told me, " she had passed a sleepless and 
painful night, but that she had enjoyed sweet communion with God." A few 
hours before she died, she asked for me, I was then from home. When I came 
in she said, " let him come up ; but I want to see nothing but my God. " 



A Memorial 129 

and said, how much anguish has that heart known in the 
course of near eighty years. I thought of all the miseries it 
had felt in an unfortunate early marriage, which fortunately 
for her, terminated in t,hree or four years by the extrava- 
gance and intemperance of her young husband. I thought 
of the anguish it had felt in being parted from my father 
who was the husband of her warmest affections, and who 
left her with but a small fortune, and six young children. I 
thought of all the anguish it had felt during the sixteen 
years she had been connected with her last husband, who 
was rough, unkind, and often abusive in his treatment of 
her. I thought above all of the solicitude ihe had a thou- 
sand times felt for each of her children while living, and of 
the grief she had felt for those she had lost by death. Her 
affection for the remainder of her children seemed to be as 
intense on her death bed as ever. Upon coming into her 
room a few weeks before she died, she took me by the hand 
and squeezed it and said, "I love to see you, my son. The 
very sound of your feet as you come up stairs is delightful 
to me." She once complained that she was very trouble- 
some, and wished to be gone, that she might relieve us from 
the toils of nursing and attending her. Here I had an 
opportunity of doing justice to my feelings. "No, said I, 
my dear Madam — should you continue to lie on this bed, till 
you are an hundred years old, you will never tire my family. 
I shall cheerfully and thankfully nurse you here, if it were 
only for the pleasure of your conversation." Her affection 
for my dear Mrs. Rush and her great gratitude for her 
attention to her were frequently expressed. Upon a pro- 
posal being made if she recovered to live with my sister, she 
said, "don't speak of it, I will never leave Mrs. Rush." 

She was buried by the side of my father in Christ 
Church grave yard agreeably to her request. "He was an 
angel (said she) to me in life. Let me lie by him in death." 
The sight of the grave and headstone of my father, while 
the grave was receiving the beloved dust of my mother, sug- 
gested many new ideas to my mind. He died July 26th, 



130 Benjamin Rush 

1751. I fancied for a while, there was a dialogue between 
the long sleeping dust of my father, and the body of my 
mother. "Welcome, said the former, to this peaceful retreat 
of pain and trouble. Be not alarmed in descending into this 
earth. Jesus has once laid here and left behind him the per- 
fume of his precious body." "Yes (I fancied I hear my dear 
mother reply) I come with joy to be reunited with the best 
of husbands in the grave. I have finished the work you 
assigned on your death bed. I have educated my children 
as you directed. Some of them went to rest before me. The 
survivors I hope will be prepared to follow us, and share 
with us in the blessings of that gospel in which I have 
instructed them, to all eternity." 

August 2nd, 1798. This day heard of the death of my 
dear and only sister, Mrs. Rachel Montgomery. She lived 
and died at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. She was a truly 
excellent woman, I never saw her angry, nor heard her 
speak ill of any one. She died full of faith and hope of hap- 
piness beyond the grave. 



A Memorial 130a 



DEATH 

Dr. Rush died on the 19th of April, 1813. For the 
circumstances of his last illness we are indebted to the 
enlightened detail of Dr. Dorsey — "During the last year 
or two of his life a cough, which he familiarly called his 
tussis senilis, increased very considerably. Having in early 
life suffered severely from some pulmonary symptoms, 
which were thought to wear a consumptive aspect, he 
never believed that he should live to be old. After visiting 
his p&tients as usual, on Wednesday, the 14th of April, 
after tea, in the evening he was attacked with a violent 
chill, which was relieved by some brandy and water. In 
the night he awoke with a severe pain in the side attended 
with great difficulty in breathing. He sent for a bleeder 
and ordered him to take eight or ten ounces of blood from 
his arm. After losing the blood he was relieved and slept. 
A medical friend was requested to visit him the next 
morning; finding him weak and exhausted, he administered 
some wine-whey, which was evidently beneficial. His pulse 
however became gradually weaker and his symptoms soon 
assumed the prevailing typhus diathesis. Stimulating rem- 
edies were administered by his physicians to as great an 
extent as the stomach would bear, and external irritation 
kept up, but without effect. 

About five in the afternoon of the 19th of April, per- 
fectly rational and expecting, with the utmost composure, 
his approaching dissolution, he expired. "Let it also be 
recorded" are the words of Dr. David Hosack, "that the 
last act of Dr. Rush's life was an act of charity and that 
the last expression which fell from his lips was an injunc- 
tion to his son 'Be indulgent to the poor.' " 



130b Benjamin Rush 



PUBLIC NOTICE 
of Dr. Rush's Death 

April 20, 1813. 
Died — about five o'clock yesterday afternoon, after a 
short illness, the great and good Doctor Benjamin Rush. 
The columns of a newspaper are not the place, nor our 
feeble pen the instrument, for commemorating the trans- 
cendent virtues, talents and usefulness of such a man. 
Biography and history will no doubt hereafter do them the 
justice they deserve. In the meanwhile it is the painful 
duty of every Press to contribute its transient notice of 
an event, which has deprived the country of a patriot, 
society of a most superior and fascinating member, 
and science of an illustrious ornament. It is true that 
threescore years and ten being accomplished, ought to teach 
us that much longer life could not be expected. But the 
loss is only the more irreparable, when age has matured 
and mellowed genius, without diminishing or blunting any 
of its inestimable faculties. Few men, if any, in this, or any 
other country, have so eminently combined public with 
professional services as Dr. Rush. From the time of his 
signing the Declaration of Independence to the last moment 
of his career, he has always displayed the first requisites 
for a great statesman : while his multiform works in med- 
ical science have been the almost annual productions of his 
knowledge in this department. Just as he had completed 
a great, original performance on the Diseases of the Mind, 
this great, original man has been suddenly withdrawn from 
this world. Such is mortality! As a father, a husband, a 
brother, a friend, a companion, a citizen, in every sphere 
of existence, his attributes were of the highest character, 
his loss leaves a chasm which time alone can fill. 



PART II 

Extracts From Dr. Rush's Common- 
place Book 



A Memorial 133 



PART II 

Notes 

1792 

March i 

Yesterday a vote passed the lower House of Assembly 
to allot $15,000 to build a mad-house. The idea of this build- 
ing etc. originated last winter in a conversation with Bar- 
tholomew Wister in the Hospital and the public mind was 
first awakened to it by a short publication I threw out in 
Dunlap's paper. I mention this to encourage my boys to 
expect great things from slender beginnings and weak 
instruments. 

March 20 

This day was spent in debating about the establishment 
of free schools in our Legislature. I had great pleasure in 
living to see this event, for I had ten years ago and ever 
since inculcated the necessity and advantages of them from 
the press. On this day of triumph in seeing so great good 
accomplished, I met John Jones in the street, who told me 
that Governor Tom Mifflin had withheld a renewal of a 
commission I had held for ten years as one of the Inspectors 
of sickly vessels for the Port of Philadelphia. This was the 
only tie that any Government had upon my gratitude. It 
was worth only fifteen or twenty guineas a year. I felt no 
uneasiness from hearing that I was turned out of office. 
Some time ago I applied through Mr. Randolph to the Presi- 
dent of the United States for the place of District Judge of 
Pennsylvania for my brother. This was refused. These 
are excellent lessons not to trust to the gratitude of our 
country for services to it. 



134 ' Benjamin Rush 

1792 

March 30 

Spent a long and agreeable evening with Mr. Madison 
in his room at Mrs. House's. Our conversation was upon 
the evils introduced into our country by the funded debt of 
the United States and in praise of Republican governments. 
He said that he could at all times discover a sympathy 
between the speeches and the pockets of all those members 
of Congress who held Certificates. 

The conversation during the month turned very much 
on the fall of the Funds from 25% to 20^ occasioned by the 
failure of William Duer of New York. This man, it was 
said, aimed at monopolizing all the 6% (amounting to 
$17,000,000) of the United States and selling them after- 
wards to foreigners for 27s. or 30s. in the pound. In this 
attempt he contracted immense debts to merchants, trades- 
men, draymen, widows, orphans, oystermen, market-women, 
churches, etc. He failed, it was said for two millions and a 
half of dollars, and so angry were his creditors that he was 
obliged to shelter himself from them by flying to a gaol. 
He ruined several brokers and injured many trading people 
by his failure. His failure was ascribed to all the banks 
ceasing to discount and calling in their credits. By these 
events a great and universal demand was created for money 
and many persons in New York and Philadelphia gave 
from 2^ to S^o for temporary loans of money and some 
I '/o per day to make good their engagements to the different 
banks. The spirit of speculation ran high during the whole 
of last winter, so as to destroy patriotism and friendship in 
many people. "Is it true," said a speculator to me, "that 
the President of the United States intends to resign?" "I 
do not know," said I, "but what makes you ask that ques- 
tion?" "A true answer," said he, "would determine me to 
buy in or sell out of the Funds." Two or three Expresses 
generally passed between New York and Philadelphia every 
twenty-four hours to convey the prices current of stock. 



A Memorial I35 

1792 

March 31 

Went this day with my wife and daughters to see a 
male lion twenty-five months' old, in Race Street. He was 
about two feet high, strong, active and fierce. He walked 
constantly around his cage. His keeper told me that he ate 
twelve pounds of flesh and drank three quarts of water 
every day ; that he endured the cold of the last winter per- 
fectly well; that he would play with a puppy but would 
always tear a dog to pieces. 

April 14 

Failures numerous in New York and Philadelphia. Mr. 
McComb a wreck in New York; once worth £100,000 ster- 
ling, failed this week. He was a man of excellent character. 
Ten of his own and five of his brother's children and a 
young wife with two children by a former husband shared 
with him in his calamity. Walt Livingston and many others 
followed him as bankrupts. Several happened this week in 
Philadelphia, as J. M. Taylor, Summers, etc. Duer's Notes 
for Certificates amounted to Thirty millions of dollars. It 
appears that he borrowed the Funds of a Lottery to build 
a bridge over the Raritan in New Jersey and seventy or 
eighty pounds of money raised by a charity sermon, both 
of which he had wasted. Thousands, it is said, will be 
injured and hundreds ruined by him. Certificates 19/6 half 
shares of National Bank Stock 15, Bills of Exchange on 
London 55 and 573^, so great is the scarcity of cash. 

April 15 

General Hull with General Hampton drank tea with me. 
The former is Agent to Congress for Massachusetts for 
obtaining justice to the late American officers and soldiers 
who sold their Certificates for 2/6 up to 5 shillings in the 
pound during the late war. May Heaven succeed his efforts. 

April 18 

Bankruptcies continue to increase in New York and 
Philadelphia. A gentleman just arrived from New York 



136 Benjamin Rush 

1792 

says that he scarcely entered a house in which he did not 
find the woman in tears and the husband wringing his 
hands. Whippo, formerly an oysterman, had run away with 
$200,000 in banknotes. The Bank of New York observed that 
few of their old notes came in to them, owing, it was 
thought, to their being secreted by the bankrupts. Many 
of the brokers who have failed had bespoke carriages and 
some of them four horses. As yet I have heard of not one 
instance of insanity and only one of suicide, and he was a 
Frenchman who had lost by Duer's failure. Real property, 
which had risen 300% in some parts of our City, especially 
Market and Chestnut Streets, into the last of which the 
brokers crowded, suddenly fell to its former value. Two 
houses above Third Street in Chestnut Street belonging to 
Sam Pleasants were sold for $10,000 to two brokers. It was 
currently said that $2000 had been offered to Mr. Pleasants 
to take them back again. Chestnut Street was now called 
"Lame Duck Alley." Isaac Franks informed me that all 
the prices above 15 shillings in the pound for Certificates 
were produced by Notes from one broker to another, for 
that there was not money enough in the country to raise 
them above that price. 

April 25 

Private accounts still inform us that great distress pre- 
vails in New York. Men are often seen to weep in the 
streets. Fighting and boxing are common at the Coffee 
House. Two instances of the same kind have happened in 
Philadelphia. Only seven gentlemen and five ladies attended 
an Assembly in New York. Half shares, which were at 
par, have risen to 30% and 35% and 6 per cents, from 
19% to 20^. This is supposed to be artificial. Scrip rose 
in the same way last summer and the South Sea Stock in 
1720. The persons who had suffered took great pains to 
conceal their losses; some of them assumed an affected 
cheerfulness. 



A Memorial i37 

1792 

April 26 

This day a German physician, Dr. Seger, of South Caro- 
lina, introduced to me by Dr. Ramsay, dined with me. He 
lived five years in Charleston. When he went there, he said, 
his head was stuffed with morality and Christianity and that 
he could not bear to see a negro corrected, but that now he 
could bear to flay one of them alive. 

May I 

This day Mr. Mecheaux, a French botanist, on a tour 
through the American woods, drank tea with me. He was 
recommended to me from Charleston by Mr. Bushe and 
Dr. Baron. He had spent fourteen months in Persia. He 
says he found the Triticum spelta, the Lucerne, and Clover 
wild in that country, also many fruits, but the peach never. 
He spoke highly of the fruits of that country, that they were 
very saccharine and nourishing. He said that he once ate 
120 nectarines for a breakfast without being cloyed by 
them ; that fruits composed a breakfast of rich and poor in 
Persia, rice, with a small quantity of meat, the dinner and 
supper. That the musk melons were preserved from Sep- 
tember till May upon high and dry shelves and always 
retained a good deal of their flavor. This he ascribed to 
their being raised in a loose, sandy and dry soil, and to the 
great quantity of saccharine matter in them. That water 
was scarce in Persia and brought sixty leagues in some 
cases to supply their towns and gardens by means of aque- 
ducts. That he once cut a grape in Persia that had neither 
seeds nor stones. That he brought the seed of a plum tree 
from Persia to Charleston which flourished there although 
no European plum had been known to thrive there. He 
said that the seeds of all plants declined the first but thrived 
the second year after being transplanted. That he once 
had a pleurisy in Persia from drinking sour milk when he 
was very warm. He said Chardin had published the best 
account of Persia. The fig and the grape, he said, never 



138 Benjamin Rush 

1792 

rotted or became sour on the trees or after they fell, but 
dried, became candied and still retained their sweetness. 

June 2 

Met this day at Thomas Armat's with a Methodist Min- 
ister of the name of Glendenning, who had been insane for 
four years and a half, during all which time he said he was 
in a state of despair. That he felt all the bodily pains and 
mental anguish of the damned. That he slumbered only 
during this time ; that he ate as usual but that his food had 
no relish. That he lost all his passions and appetites; that 
he loved and hated nobody. That he had a coldness in his 
extremities and a heat in the upper parts of his body. That 
he kept his hands in constant motion towards his head and 
thighs and arms, crying out at the same time "Oh, wretched 
man that I am, I am damned. Oh, I am damned everlast- 
ingly." During this time he lost all sense of years, months, 
weeks, days and even of morning and evening; time to him 
was no more. 

June 18 

This day I attended the funeral of William Gray's wife, 
a black woman, with about fifty more white persons and 
two Episcopal clergymen. The white attendants were 
chiefly the neighbors of the deceased. The sight was a new 
one in Philadelphia, for hitherto, a few cases excepted, the 
negroes alone attended each other's funerals. By this event 
it is to be hoped the partition wall which divided the blacks 
from the whites will be still further broken down and a way 
prepared for their union as brethren and members of one 
great family. 

July 2 

Dr. Gordon, of St. Croix, informed me at my table that 
the Indians in South America prevent the jawfull by the 



A Memorial 139 

1792 

cold bath ; that he cured only one-half the cases of tetanus 
that came under his notice, and that horses were very sub- 
ject to this disorder from accidents and even from standing 
in the cool air after being heated. 

July 16 

Dr. Charles Brown, who was in General St. Clair's 
defeat on the fourth of November last, visited the ground 
in the winter. He says that all the dead bodies on the field 
had their eyes only eaten and one woman her breasts. The 
bodies which lay on the retreat had no flesh left on their 
bones and their bones were generally broken. He supposed 
that the buzzards had chased the wolves from the field and 
that the wolves had eaten those bodies only which fell in 
retreat. He saw one sapling which had twenty-seven balls 
through it. He slept one night on the field of battle. 

Mrs. Ferguson informs me that a woman, Mrs. Knight, 
near Graeme Park, when pregnant, from seeing a person in 
fits, had a son who was convulsed, became an idiot, and died 
at eighteen. The day he was buried a Mrs. Lukins, who 
was just pregnant, saw his funeral and asked her husband 
whose it was. Her husband, Peter Lukins, told her it was 
Mrs. Knight's foolish son and described his person and 
manners to her accurately. Mrs. Lukins was much affected 
with the history and description of the lad and dreamed of 
him all night. Soon after she was delivered of a girl who 
grew up in every respect an idot like the boy who had 
been described to her, she is now alive and nineteen years 
of age. 

July 16 

Mr. Hart informs me that Judge Burke had assured 
him that he was made a Roman Catholic and a Deist nearly 
at the same time by two different priests in one of the col- 
leges in France. 



140 Benjamin Rush 

1792 

July i8 

Many people suppose that there is but one kind of snuff 
or cordial for the system, but there are many, as gaming, 
scandal, politics, war, obscenity, interest of money, good 
eating, etc. all of which invigorate the mind and body as 
much as snuff. General Putnam got great credit by killing 
a troublesome wolf in his neighborhood in New England. 
Every neighborhood has its destructive wolf; they are 
oppressors of the poor, whether lawyers or doctors, also 
trading justices, duellists, bruisers, epigrammatists and scur- 
rilous writers in newspapers, gamesters, loungers, litigious 
persons, bad witnesses etc. There are a hundred substi- 
tutes for labor in every pursuit, every art and science is 
taught by plans made easy to the lowest capacity, every 
art too is carried on by methods to shorten and lessen labor. 
The business of eating is made easy, also of government by 
Secretaries reporting instead of Committees of Congress, of 
death by grapeshot, of midwifery by men practicing it 
instead of women, of rowing and navigation by steamboat, 
of land carriage by canals and turnpikes, of studying divin- 
ity by catechisms, law by compends, and physic by lectures, 
of fasting by physic, of riding by high carriages, etc. There 
is a propensity in all sciences to simplify themselves and to 
ascribe that to one which should be divided among many 
causes. For example, how few sects honor Father, Son and 
Holy Ghost in religion as they should do. The Socinians 
honor the Father only; the Catholics the Saviour chiefly, 
and the Quakers the Holy Spirit above both ; how few 
include all the ends of our Saviour's death in their belief of 
the Atonement; each contends for one end only while six or 
seven other ends are clearly revealed in the Scriptures; 
many exalt one power or one set of powers only in the mind 
instead of all, many confine religion to one power only 
instead of applying it to all. The Episcopalians to the 
understanding, the Methodists to the passions and the 
Quakers the moral powers. 



A Memorial 141 

1792 

July 21 

Wesley forbids his preachers to affect to be or even to 
appear like gentlemen, and indeed when we consider how 
that word is abused in the world it is no wonder he gave 
such advice. A man who has been bred a gentleman can- 
not work, dig he cannot and he will not ask for charity, for 
to beg he is ashamed, and therefore he lives by borrowing 
without intending to pay, or upon the public or his friends. 
A gentleman cannot wait upon himself and therefore his 
hands and his legs are often as useless to him as if they were 
paralytic. If a merchant be a gentleman he would sooner 
lose fifty customers than be seen to carry a piece of goods 
across a street. If a doctor should chance to be a gentleman 
he would rather let a patient die than assist in giving him 
a glyster or in bleeding him ; if a parson he loses all his zeal ; 
if a tradesman should happen to be a gentleman he is 
undone forever, — by entertaining company, by a country- 
seat, or by wishing to secure the good-will and society of 
gentlemen by trusting them. In a word, to be a gentleman 
subjects one to the necessity of resenting injuries, fighting 
duels, and the like, and takes away all disgrace in swearing, 
getting drunk, running in debt, getting bastards, etc., it 
makes nothing infamous but giving or taking the lie, for 
however much gentlemen pretend to be men of their word 
they are the greatest liars in the world, they lie to their 
creditors, to their mistresses, to their fathers, or wives, or to 
the public. 

The Indian savages oblige their women only to work; 
among civilized nations the women oblige the men only to 
work, the men among the former and the women among the 
latter consider the opposite sex made only to administer to 
their comfort without any co-operation on their part; both 
are wrong, men and women were made to work together 
in different ways. 



142 Benjamin Rush 

1792 

July 25 

There is in every part of the natural world an accom- 
modation of cause to effect analogous to stimulus to excit- 
ability in the animal body; the spring and winter come on 
gradually, the sun rises and sets gradually, manners operate 
gradually. The same remark applies to morals and religion, 
"No man putteth new wine into old bottles," the light of 
the gospel has risen gradually on the world. The Jews had 
precepts given to them which were not good before they 
could bear those which were good. Fontanelle says that if 
he were possessed of all the truths in the world he would 
impart them gradually. Endless punishment cannot be 
true for it is disproportioned to the force of the mind to con- 
ceive of it in the present state. The happiness of heaven is 
to be progressive, hence we read of the third heaven and of 
the heaven of heavens. A state of nature is said to be a 
state of war. A state of society or the civilized state is much 
more as far as strategems compose a part of the business of 
war. Courtship, trade, buying and selling, renting &c. are 
all carried on by strategems. A knowledge of the world 
seems to consist only in knowing how to effect or avoid 
imposition. 

July 26 

Mr. Hutson told me that the Rev. Mr. Venn used to 
say that he never was half an hour in Mr. Walker of Truro's 
company without discovering some new depravity in his 
heart, never half an hour in Mr. Wesley's company without 
being ashamed of his idleness, nor half an hour in Mr. Har- 
vey's company without being ashamed of his want of love 
to Jesus Christ. 

August II 

Charles Brown again informed me that the Indian men 
despise labor, particularly agriculture and horticulture. 
They have no objection to that work which they can do in 
sitting still. They hate the sight of a compass and call it a 



A Memorial i43 

1792 

witch's wheel, they dread them when they meet with them 
and say that they steal their lands from them. They were 
very fond of opium and preferred our remedies to their own. 

August 27 

Mr. Beckly informed me that the President has com- 
plained to Mr. Jefferson that the Secretary of the Treasury 
advised or obtruded his view upon him in all his appoint- 
ments, that the President was dissatisfied and talked of 
resigning, that a member of Congress had examined the 
Register's books and found twenty-six members of the 
House of Representatives and eight of the Senate certificate 
holders. 

Sept. II 

Isaac Roberdeau who has been educated a sugar baker 
in England informed me that the purest sugar was made at 
St. Kitts, the next at Jamaica, next at Barbados, and the 
worst at Antigua. He once found two feet of earth in a 
hogshead of sugar, and in general he says that the impure 
sugar contains from 1/15 to 1/20 of dirt. 

Nov. 15 

Mr. Jefferson informed me that a French physician who 
had practised physic sixty years in Paris had declared that 
he had never been called up in the night except to persons 
who had supped. 

Dec. 15 

Mr. Mecheaux, a French botanist, drank tea with me. 
He had just returned from a journey of 650 leagues beyond 
and 150 leagues to the north of Quebec in search of plants. 
He found there many of the plants of similar latitudes in 
Europe among others the Labrador Tea. He says that the 
scattered French people whom he found in that cold coun- 
try had coarse skins from scorbutic complaints. They lived 



144 Benjamin Rush 

1792 

chiefly on salt meat and seals ; their blood when effused had 
a color blacker than natural. The Indians who eat wild 
fruits plentifully escape the scurvy. 

1793 

In a conversation with Mr. Jefferson he said that at 
Milan and in many other parts of Italy there were two lan- 
guages spoken, the polite Italian among people of fashion, 
and the vulgar Italian which was scarcely intelligible. He 
said the French language improved in softness as you trav- 
elled south from Paris. In Provence the words terminated 
in vowels, for example mere, mother, was mero. He said it 
was suspected that the British Ministry had indirectly 
bought Dr. Franklin's works through the medium of a book- 
seller, and to this was ascribed the delay in their publica- 
tion. The whole of Mr. Jefferson's conversation on all sub- 
jects is instructive ; he is wise without formality, and main- 
tains a consequence without pomp or distance. 

Jany. 8 

I waited on Mr. Blanchard and requested him to exam- 
ine the state of his pulse in his aerial voyage which he was 
to undertake the next day. He promised to do so and 
accepted of the use of my pulse glass for the purpose. 

Jany. g 

This morning at ten o'clock I saw Mr. Blanchard ascend 
from the prison yard. The sight was truly sublime on his 
first appearance above the wall there was an universal cry 
of "Oh, oh, good voyage !" &c. from several thousand spec- 
tators, many of whom had come from New York, Baltimore 
and other distant parts to see it. The city was so crowded 
that it was difficult for strangers to get lodgings at taverns, 
and the theatre was so crowded this evening that several 
hundred people returned without getting in. 



A Memorial i45 

1793 

Jany. 24 

Mr. Blanchard drank tea with me. He said that he once 
ascended six miles, that blood came into his mouth ; that 
the sleepiness he felt when he ascended was owing to the 
lightness and not the coldness of the air ; that his thirst was 
intolerable in one of his ascensions and that he had relieved 
it by receiving into his hat the drops of a cloud which col- 
lected and descended on his balloon into his car; that the 
pleasure of sailing in the air was very great; that the 
degrees in Fahrenheit once fell to forty degrees below zero 
in one of his flights and that his ink froze suddenly. 

April 17 

Dr. Van Rohr informed me that the accounts of the 
efficacy of the lizard in curing leprosy in Spain were true; 
that the lizard fed on a poisonous spider called Rana Avi- 
cularis and that the flesh of the lizard when eaten operated 
on the kidneys and pores and sometimes on the stomach 
and bowels very powerfully. The Doctor had lived nearly 
forty years in the West Indies, chiefly in St. Croix, and had 
visited South America at the expense of the King of Den- 
mark in quest of natural knowledge. He was a German by 
birth, very learned and sensible, aged fifty-nine. He spoke 
highly of the intellect and moral faculties of the negro. A 
black man travelled with him who was his intelligencer in 
every strange place that he visited. He was, he said, a 
botanist and a philosopher. He had been taught morality 
by his father by means of fables, many of which the Doctor 
said were original and truly sublime. He gave the Doctor 
such an account of plants in Africa as enabled him to class 
them by Linnaeus and he satisfied him that the Monoceros 
or Unicorn existed in Africa, also many other nondescript 
animals. The Doctor was on his way by order of the King 
of Denmark to establish a free colony on the coast of Africa 
in the latitude of five degrees in order to introduce civiliza- 
tion among the Africans. He spoke in high terms of Fred- 



146 Benjamin Rush 

1793 

erick, the Prince of Denmark. That his salary was Thirty- 
thousand dollars and that he gave away Twenty-seven thou- 
sand dollars to public uses. That he visited the free schools 
of Copenhagen and even attended to the healthy structure 
of the school houses. One of the former Kings of Denmark, 
the Doctor said, had declared that if men knew the weight 
of a crown as well as he did they would not pick it up in the 
street. 

August 7 

The Surgeon of the II Constante, a large India ship, 
informed me that out of seventy sailors there had been no 
death in two years, four months of which they spent in 
China, where three or four of them had the flux. At sea 
they were kept clean and drank every day sugar and water 
mixed, they used wine only after fatigue. 

August 22 

Attended a dinner a mile below the town in Second 
Street to celebrate the raising of the roof of the African 
Church. About one hundred white persons, chiefly carpen- 
ters, dined at one table, who were waited upon by Africans. 
Afterwards about fifty black people sat down at the same 
table, who were waited upon by white people. Never did I 
see people more happy, some of them shed tears of joy. An 
old black man took Mr. Nicholson by the hand and said to 
him, "May you live long and when you die may you not die 
eternally." I gave them two toasts, viz. "Peace on earth 
and good-will to man", and "May African Churches every- 
where soon succeed African bondage." The last was 
received with three cheers. 

1794 

Dr. Johnson, who had lived fourteen years in the East 
Indies, drank tea with me this afternoon and gave me the 
following information. That the influence of the moon was 
perceptible at its full and change 2000 miles from the tides. 



A Memorial i47 

1794 

He confirmed Dr. Balfour's facts that he never had better 
health than while he lived among the Bramins wholly on 
vegetables for five years ; that he drank no wine during this 
time but that all his vegetables were well spiced. Quaere. 
Do the spices fortify the alimentary canal chiefly? That he 
often drank a pleasant emulsion made from poppies. During 
this time he lived in a sickly country but was always healthy 
and his faculties uncommonly clear. That the Arabs feed 
their horses with the roots of grass which are more nourish- 
ing than the blades. That the Bramins complain of the 
breath of the Europeans who live on animal food being 
offensive. That the Europeans in the East Indies are great 
eaters. That a colony of Persians who expose the bodies of 
their dead at Sourat to the Sun their god, are not affected by 
their putrefaction. That he had lain eight hours in an earth 
bath and found it very comfortable. That Dr. Graham 
recommends it for rheumatism, stiff joints and sores of all 
kinds. The earth should be well dried and crumbled a day 
or two before by the sun. That the Arabs cure stumbling in 
a horse by blindfolding him, which makes him lift his legs. 
Mr. Irvine added that blindfolding a horse tamed him by 
producing fear. Mr. Priestly said a man in England tamed 
wild horses by keeping them awake all night; he stayed in 
the stable with them. Dr. Johnson also said, a few days 
afterwards, that a person with red hair, as Danes and other 
Northern men, by marrying East India women had children 
like the Europeans but no other European had such children 
by such marriages. 

June 4 

Dr. Priestly landed at New York. June i8th came to 
Philadelphia. On the 19th I waited on him and spent about 
half an hour in his company. He related many instances of 
the persecuting conduct of the Church and Court towards 
him. One was that Dr. Parr, an Episcopal Minister, for 
having only written a few lines in his favor was threatened 



148 Benjamin Rush 

1794 

with having his house destroyed and was forced to remove 
his library consisting- of 6000 volumes to Oxford for safety. 

June 30 

Visited the new jail with Caleb Lownes. The prisoners 
about fifty from the whole State convicted on light offences, 
the same pains taken now to convict as formerly to acquit. 
All busy and working at, first, carving marble, second, grind- 
ing plaster of Paris, third, weaving, fourth, shoemaking, 
fifth, tailoring, sixth, spinning, seventh, turning, eighth, cut- 
ting or chipping logfwood. 

July 3 

Dr. Priestly dined with me. His conversation was 
highly instructive. He said that he had been very intimate 
with Dr. Franklin and that from his often saying he should 
like to peep out of his grave a hundred years hence he 
concluded that he did not believe in a future state. He 
said that he had made many Deists, He acknowledged 
a belief only in a being of God and a particular Provi- 
dence. He spoke with great respect of Dr. Price but said 
that he viewed the doctrine of philosohpical necessity with 
horror. He inclined towards the close of his life to the 
doctrine of final restitution instead of annihilation. I often 
accused Dr. Priestly of changing his opinion on that sub- 
ject, for the Doctor inclined in his conversation with me to 
the annihilation of the wicked from the analogy of some 
plants and animals which have perished forever on our 
globe. He spoke in high terms of Republican principles. 
He said that laws or opinions governed in France and not 
men. This was proved by the same measures going on after 
the death or flight of so many of their leading characters. 
He praised the discipline of our jail and said that gentleness 
reformed all wild animals as well as man. This he instanced 
in Mr, Bickwell, who cured the most vicious horses in one 
night by tickling them about their ears. 



A Memorial i49 

1794 

Sept. 20 

A young German physician informed me that eighty-six 
physicians and surgeons had died with camp diseases in the 
Austrian Army since the commencement of the war with 
France. 

December 28 

Met Dr. Helmuth going into St. Michael's Church in 
Fifth Street and condoled with him on the burning of his 
Church on the evening of December 26th. He said that it 
belonged to this world and that he hoped it would be the 
means of building up the invisible Church of Christ. I saw 
him again on the evening of the same day, when he said, 
that the loss of the Church had much affected his congrega- 
tion, and that, if it proved the means of converting only 
one of their souls, it would be purchased at a cheap rate. 
He added that the morning collection, which in the burnt 
church amounted in general to only about is 4/10, had that 
day amounted to about is 32. 

1795 

April 9 

This day Tench Coxe called upon me to know whether 
I would accept the Directorship of the Mint with a salary 
of $750 a year in the room of David Rittenhouse, who was 
about to resign. I declined the offer on the steps at my door 
without deliberating for one moment upon it. I objected to 
it, first, because it would expose me to the calumnies of my 
brethren, who would say it interfered with my business; 
secondly, because my business was more profitable to me 
than three times the value of the office; thirdly, because it 
would prevent my introducing my son into business by 
withdrawing me from it, and fourthly, because I had 
devoted myself to the establishment of a new system of 
physic. I had secret objections to it which I did not men- 
tion. Never did any man feel more pleasure in receiving an 
office than I did in declining the above offer. 



150 Benjamin Rush 

1795 

August 23 

This evening, Sunday, died my excellent friend William 
Bradford, Esquire. Never did I labor more to save a life. 
He objected to being bled till the fifth day of a malignant 
fever, in which time effusion probably took place in his 
brain. He expected his death and often spoke of it. He 
bequeathed me on his deathbed One thousand dollars, the 
interest of which was to be applied during my life to char- 
itable purposes and at my death to be bequeathed by me to 
charitable uses or to my own children. See his character 
written and published by me. His death cut a sinew in my 
heart. I loved him tenderly. 

Sept. 21 

Dr. Blythe, of Georgetown, South Carolina, breakfasted 
with me. He had just returned from the Sweet Springs in 
Virginia. He said the heat of the water was between 60 and 
70 degrees ; that the country around it was uncommonly cool 
but fruitful ; that the water was disagreeable at first to the 
taste, but that after a while it became very agreeable and 
that he became more attached to it than to tobacco; some 
people drank ten gallons of it in a day. 

Sept. 25 

This morning died my much beloved pupil, Gilbert 
Watson. He contracted his sickness by nursing Dr. Jar- 
dine's family on the Delaware above Bristol. His fever 
became fatal, I believed, from the neglect of bleeding in one 
paroxysm of his fever. He had excellent talents, great 
industry and uncommon sensibility to the distresses of sick 
people. 

Sept. 29 

Mr. Stewart informed me that in the Eastern countries, 
especially Smyrna, when the plague raged, the provident 
people kept a tub of water at their doors and washed every- 
thing in it that came into their houses except bread and 



A Memorial 151 

1796 

vegetables. A man once caught the plague by touching the 
string of the latch of his door which had been touched by a 
person infected with it. 

October 8 

He says the Turks had no fear of the plague, they 
dreaded evil only when present; they had no fear of artil- 
lery because they did not see it. 

1796 

The city was much agitated, not divided, on the subject 
of the President of the United States refusing to deliver up 
the papers relative to the Treaty with Great Britain. Sixty- 
two members of the House of Representatives voted for it 
and thirty-seven against it. The President acted afterwards 
in the execution of the Treaty, which gave great offence. 

April 22 

Mrs. Duche told me this day that her mother had long 
objected to living with her "because she was afraid her love 
for her children would lessen her communion with God 
which she enjoyed in her own house and alone." She con- 
cealed this reason for living by herself until yesterday, even 
from her daughter Mrs. Duche. 

June 27 

This morning died, aged about sixty-four, David Rit- 
tenhouse, a man of immense genius, universal in its objects, 
modest, amiable, just, a friend to liberty, a true Republican, 
beloved and admired by all who knew him. 

July 27 

Mrs. Mease told me when dying that among other sins 
she had to repent of, — one was, too much confidence in my 
remedies. 



152 Benjamin Rush 

1796 

July 30 

Mrs. Rittenhouse told me that when she felt a disposi- 
tion to be angry, she went to the Observatory where her 
husband was buried, which composed her. 

August 26 

This day gave two dollars to the keeper of the new jail 
to buy watermelons for the prisoners and accompanied it 
with the following note : "A citizen of Philadelphia requests 
the prisoners in the new jail to accept of some watermelons. 
He requests no other return for this small present than that 
they should consider that God by disposing the heart of one 
of his creatures to show them an act of kindness is still their 
Father and their Friend." 

Dec. 24 

Heard the Rev. Dr. Coke preach in the African Meth- 
odist Church. He said there were 167,000 adults in their 
Society all over the world, 10,000 blacks in the West Indies 
and 300 on the coast of Africa, 

Dec. 25 

This day sent the following note to the prisoners in the 
jail : "Peter Brown, Robert Wharton, Mrs. Susannah Brad- 
ford and Dr. Rush request the prisoners in the new jail 
under sentence of confinement and labor to accept of a din- 
ner on turkeys as a proof that they are still remembered in 
their present suffering condition by some of their fellow- 
creatures. They hope they will be led by this small present 
on this anniversary day of the birth of their Saviour to con- 
sider the infinite love of God to their souls in sending his 
Son into the world to redeem them from all evil and to 
introduce them when penitent into a state of everlasting 
rest and happiness." 

Dec. 26 

Attended a baptism of two children of Mr. McConnel 
by the Rev, Dr. Blair. The one was called Juliana and the 



A Memorial 153 

1796 

other Benjamin Rush. During the whole of December this 
winter distress from the eifects of speculation continue to 
pervade our City. The jail was crowded with persons sent 
there for debt. The notes of persons of the first credit 
formerly were protested and laid over in the banks. 

Dec. 27 

Dined this day at Richard Allen's with Dr. Coke and 
seven other Methodist Ministers. My son Richard was with 
me. Dr. Coke told me that he had been educated at Oxford ; 
had been a Deist, afterwards a Minister of the Church of 
England before he joined the Methodists. He said he was 
a miracle of grace. His conversation was agreeable and 
his manners those of a gentleman. His person was very 
small. 

Dec. 29 

Saw a dwarf born in Massachusetts of parents of the 
common size. He was seven years old, twenty-six inches 
high, weighed twelve pounds and up, was sprightly and in 
good health. His name was Calvin Phillips. 

December 

This month great distress pervaded our city from fail- 
ures, etc., one hundred and fifty, it is said, occurred in six 
weeks, and sixty-seven people went to jail to come out by 
the Act of Insolvency in two weeks. Morris and Nicholson, 
said to amount to Ten millions of dollars, were currently 
sold for 2/6 in the pound, 30% per annum was given for 
money. Hundreds drew their money in from banks, and 
common interest, to lend it by the hands of brokers at that 
usurious interest, all of whom suffered more or less by the 
failure. A spirit of speculation infected all ranks. 

Jany. 27 1797 

I was called this morning to see Mr. Brown who had 
been much burnt in attempting to rescue his wife and three 



154 Benjamin Rush 

1797 

children all of whom had just before perished by fire. His 
situation was awful. His constant cry was: "Oh, Death! 
death ! death ! Oh, Jehovah ! Jehovah ! Jehovah ! Water ! 
water! water!" After exhibiting signs of recovery he was 
told of the fate of his family. In half an hour afterwards he 
lost his reason and so continued till he died, which was on 
the fourth of February. The next day Dr. Magan preached a 
funeral sermon on the occasion to a crowded audience in St. 
Paul's Church. About a month before this catastrophe I 
called at Mr. Brown's house and found him in a serious con- 
versation with his children. He told me he had been speak- 
ing to them about the danger of a fire and that they ought 
to be good in order to prevent their sharing the fate of many 
people who had suffered from fire during the winter. 

March 21 

This day died my excellent friend Mrs. Duche. I vis- 
ited her mother, Mrs. Hopkinson, whom I found composed 
and resigned. She spoke of the deaths of her son Judge 
Hopkinson and of her daughter Mrs. Morgan, and said, "I 
must be a crooked stick to require so much afBiction to 
straighten me." She said her daughter Mrs. Duche never 
went to bed without coming into her bed room to see if she 
was comfortably lodged in bed, and never bid her goodnight 
without putting her arms around her neck and kissing her. 

March 22 

Dr. Priestley informed me that he knew a Mr. Clayton, 
a Minister formerly of Liverpool, whose pulse was always 
at 100 and 120. After an attack of a fever it became natural 
and he lost all his hair. On the same day Judge Turner 
informed me that in the new country in the Northwest Ter- 
ritory the flowers grow in tribes of one color and that the 
medicinal plants generally had blue flowers. 

July 14 

Went to see a learned pig. He was a year old, was 



A Memorial i55 

1797 

about one-half a foot high and had cost the owner One thou- 
sand dollars. He distinguished all the letters in the alpha- 
bet on cards and picked them up with his mouth. He spelled 
every word that was told him by bringing the letters of 
which those words were composed and laying them at his 
owner's feet. He did several small sums in addition, sub- 
traction and multiplication. He distinguished colors, and 
lastly he told the name of the card taken out of a pack by 
taking up with his mouth the corresponding card from a 
pack on the floor, 

November 

Dr. Pinkard, Physician to the British Troops in the 
West Indies, informed me that seventy-five medical men 
belonging to the British Army had lately died there in one 
year of the yellow fever. Mr. Young, the bookseller, 
informed me that three things distressed him during the 
prevalence of the yellow fever in 1797, namely, the poverty 
and distress of the citizens ; the dissensions of the physicians 
over open graves, and the repeated demands that were made 
of him for playing cards. 

Dec. 17 

Mr. William Russell told me that Dr. Elisha Hall of 
Fredericktown, kept two cows and two horses on the cut- 
tings of one quarter of an acre of Lucerne and one-quarter 
of an acre of Clover during the summer. He cut the Lucerne 
eight times in the course of the summer. 



Jany. 2 17»8 

This day died my good friend, the Rev. Jacob Duche, 
in his sixty-second year. He had once been Rector of Christ 
and St. Peter's Church. Was a pleasing speaker, his voice 
was musical and his action very graceful. His sermons 
were elegant but declamatory and never profound. Dr. 



156 Benjamin Rush 

1798 

Smith, his Preceptor, said of him that he had never known 
a man before him that was the same at thirty-six that he 
was at eighteen years of age. He changed his religious 
opinions often, having been an Arminian, a Mystic, and fin- 
ally died a Disciple of Swedenborg. He was, under all these 
changes, truly amiable, pious and just. He was much dis- 
ordered in the evening of his life with a tendency to palsy 
and with hysteria; he sometimes laughed and cried alter- 
nately all day; his disposition to laughter was natural to 
him, so much so that he was obliged when a young man 
to pinch himself in the pulpit to prevent his laughing when 
he was preaching. He left Philadelphia with the British 
Army in 1778 in consequence of his writing a letter to Gen- 
eral Washington to negotiate for America at the head of 
army. He returned to Philadelphia about five years ago 
and was kindly received by all his old friends. 

Jany. 12 

Mr. Wells, the interpreter of Little Turtle the Chief of 
Miami Tribe, who commanded in the defeat of General St. 
Clair and whom I had inoculated, informed me that the 
Miami tribe of Indians worshiped a Good Spirit, and that 
they offered sacrifices of a deer's heart when they went to 
battle. 

Jany. 29 

Introduced my son James to Little Turtle. He gave 
him a name. It was Wapemongua, which signifies a fishing 
bird called a White Loon. It was the name of his sister's 
son whom he had adopted. Introduced Dr. Pinkard to Mr. 
Jefferson. He said he was at a loss to know whether a 
horse, a deer or a hare was the most timid animal. That the 
sudden rising of the water in a rivulet that had been dry 
and the roaring of the mountains in Virginia indicated rain. 
That Mr. Walker, an old Doctor in Virginia, had told him 
that soldiers in a war that he had been in sometimes cut 



A Memorial 157 

1798 

steaks out of the flesh of the cattle as described by Bruce, 
and afterwards drove them along the road. Dined with a 
Dr. Dawson, a Scotchman who had lived forty years in 
Tortola. The population of that Island he said was twenty- 
five hundred whites and nine thousand blacks. They had 
one Episcopal Minister and two Methodists. The yellow 
fever, he said, broke out now and then in their low lands 
and was cured by carrying patients to their mountains in 
the height of the fever. The pure air produced an intermis- 
sion generally in twelve hours. 

March 3 

Mr. Law, son of the late Bishop of Carlisle, told me that 
in Calcutta the hills were sickly and the valleys healthy and 
that the British troops were changed every month from one 
to the other to prevent their becoming sickly. 

July 

This month I was frequently visited by Dr. Scandella, 
an ingenious native of Venice, he was learned and very 
instructing in his conversation. On his passage to America 
he amused himself by calculating how much the population 
and prosperity of the country might be promoted by the 
timber of the frigate he came in being employed in building 
farm houses ; by its guns, thirty-six in number, being made 
into implements of husbandry; and the crew, two hundred 
and forty, being employed with their wives in agriculture. 

July 26 

John Duffield informed me that his son, aged twenty- 
four, was the only survivor of a class of fifteen boys who 
were at school with him. 

August 3 

Met Samuel Emlen this day in the street. 
August 21 

Mr. Liston told me he was in Constantinople when 
eight hundred died in a day of the plague, that it was not 



158 Benjamin Rush 

1798 

always alike mortal, sometimes only one in fifty, sometimes 
one in twenty-five, sometimes one in five and sometimes 
two out of three. He said it was spread by dogs and cats 
and once by a child touching a fur cloak of her father, who 
was a physician, and who had just returned from visiting 
patients in the plague district. He said in walking the 
streets of Constantinople he had two Janissaries allowed 
him who went before him to clear the way to prevent his 
touching anybody infested with the plague. In travelling 
through Turkey, his servants who were Turks, wished to 
put up in houses infected with the plague, which Mr. Lis- 
ton prevented. The servants were offended and said that 
Mr. Liston had no religion. He told me at the same time 
that General Washington was the only man he ever knew 
in public life who gave no answer to a question of any kind 
that he did not chose to resolve. He said during the five 
days he was at his house he observed him to be passionate 
with his servants and imposed upon by his overseer, 

December 7 

Mr. Young informed me that of the two men whom 
I attended at his house in the yellow fever one had con- 
tracted a love of spirituous liquors since I had cured him, 
the other was cured of it. 

Dec. 7 

Met the Rev. Mr. Jno. Murray at the President of the 
United States. He said a clergyman once came to hear him 
preach on Universal Salvation. He said afterwards, "his 
doctrine was rational, but not Scriptural." "A more severe 
thing (said Mr. M.) could not be said of the Bible." 

Dec. 15 

Heard the Rev. Mr. Murray preach in the Universal 
Church. He gave the following explanation of a text which 
has often and long puzzled Commentators, i Corinthians, 



A Memorial i59 

1798 

XV, verse 29. "To be baptized for the dead," he said, 
meant to be baptized professing a behef in the resurrection 
of the dead. 

1799 
April 30 

Dr. Scott of the British Army dined with me this day. 
He had been to Pekin with Lord McCartney. He said at 
Pekin the dysentery was common. The heat there was in 
the shade 96°, in the sun 110°. The thermometer often fell 
20° in a night in the summer. Their physicians felt the 
pulse but knew nothing of its indications ; they believed the 
arteries carried air and that when the pulse was low air 
stagnated in the vessels. Their women were more sickly 
and less long lived than the men, owing to their feet not 
admitting of walking. Madness little known there but idiot- 
ism more common, treated with great respect. Murder 
uncommon, human life valued. The integrity of the body 
preserved in punishment, hence strangling used by law and 
exposure to cold in killing children ; maiming the body used 
for one crime only, namely treason, the punishment is cut- 
ting the skin of the face at the forehead and drawing it 
over the eyes, nose, etc., so that the criminal may never see 
himself in a glass, being too bad a sight for himself to bear. 
One instance of suicide only, a merchant from the fall of 
3,000,000 pounds of gold dust in his hands. They inoculate 
by conveying dry matter to the nose which often erodes 
part of the nose. 

August 13 

Visited Bartram's Gardens. One of his sons told me 
that his father had nine children, that they are all now liv- 
ing, the youngest thirty-eight years of age ; Isaac the father 
died at eighty-four, in June, 1801. 

August 16 

A poor woman who had buried seven out of twelve 
children told me this day that her troubles were so great 



i6o Benjamin Rush 

1799 

that she forgot the days of the week. Arthur Howell and 
the Rev. Mr. Ustick both informed me that they had an 
assurance that none of their respective families should die 
of the yellow fever in 1793. Mr, Ustick said that he had 
an intimation that they should be sick, which was the case. 

Nov. 16 

Dr. Redman informed me that he gave the first half 
joe he earned to his mother and that God had blessed him 
for it, by never permitting him to want a half joe since. 

Nov. 24 

This day met in a sick room a Mr. Switzer, a relation 
of Lavater's. He said his relation was very eloquent in the 
pulpit, that he excelled like Stern in composing sermons full 
of new matter from uncommon texts, that although he, Mr. 
Switzer, was a Deist he was so charmed with Lavater's 
preaching that he could hear him ten times a day, that he 
had less learning than genius and that he wrote from obser- 
vation and reflection and not from books. He said he was 
somewhat superstitious. He added that the literature of 
Germany was inferior to that of England and France, that 
it filled a chasm left by both nations. That there was less 
Christianity in Germany than in France, that it was attacked 
there by learning and not by wit as in France. He said 
his object of inquiry was the effects of civilization on moral 
happiness. That as yet he had made no discoveries, that 
the subject was a breaker in philosophy which perpetually 
beat him back. 

Nov. 30 

Mr. Switzer spoke of Volney, whom he knew inti- 
mately. He said he was proud and imposing in company, a 
great epicure and glutton, he neither spoke nor listened to 
conversation when he was eating, he even expanded his 
nostrils at Governor Mifflin's table to inhale the effluvia of 
the victuals before him. He used, it is said, to eat at his 



A Memorial i6i 

1799 

lodgings in the middle of the night. Mr. Switzer said fur- 
ther that he, Volney, had stolen the principal part of his 
Ruins of Empire from a work written in German by a 
Swiss. Mr. Switzer despised Atheists, he said prayer was 
so natural to man that if an Atheist were confined in a dun- 
geon one week he would call upon a god to comfort him. 

Dec. 14 

This day died, universally lamented, General Washing- 
ton. His disease was the cynanche trachialis; it proved 
fatal in fourteen hours. He was patient and resigned in his 
illness. He said his Will was made, his private affairs set- 
tled and his public business but two days behind. He 
wished his physicians to enable him to die easy. Congress 
instituted public honors to his memory. The whole United 
States mourned for him as for a father. 

Dec. 26 

A funeral eulogium before Congress and the City was 
delivered by General Harry Lee. It was sensible and mod- 
erate but was deficient in elocution and pathos. A Com- 
mittee for reporting what honors should be paid to the 
memory of George Washington proposed that the day of his 
birth and death should be consecrated to the end of time 
and should be kept by orations and prayers. This part of 
the report was not made to Congress. 

Funeral sermons were preached in all the churches, 
notice was taken of his death even in the Quaker Meeting 
by Is. Potts who called him the great occidental political 
luminary. 

1800 
Jany. 31 

Mrs. Mullen, an old and intelligent nurse, told me she 
had often observed children to be more afflicted with the 
stomach-ache in stormy weather than at other times and 
that boys were more afflicted with it than girls. 
11 



1 62 Benjamin Rush 

1800 

Feby. 14 

Michael Deihle informed me that he had a mare that 
lived to be thirty-five years old and bore a colt three years 
before she died, that she had fifteen colts in all, all mares. 
He said that in driving two hundred cattle into Pennsylva- 
nia from Maryland in the month of July they all went into 
a cold spring ; sixty of them died on the same day, the rest 
were sick for six weeks and recovered slowly with eruptions 
all over their bodies. 

April 20 

Heard Dr. Coke preach at Richard Allen's Church on 
these words: "We have received of his fulness grace for 
grace." I afterwards drank tea with him at Richard Allen's. 
He afterwards said there were 100,000 Methodists in con- 
nection in Ireland, 17,000 in England and 12,000 blacks in 
the West Indies, whom we are not ashamed, he said, to call 
our brethren. He breakfasted with me on the Thursday fol- 
lowing with a Minister of the name of Seargant. He was 
sensible and entertaining in conversation. After breakfast 
he proposed to pray. To this we readily consented. His 
prayer was connected and pertinent. 

April 29 

A black woman of the name of Ruth, who once lived 
with an old friend of mine, Emily David, called upon me 
this morning on business while I was at breakfast. She 
was desired to sit down in my study. When I came to her, 
after some conversation, she said the first thing that struck 
her in my study was "Here is time, place and opportunity 
to worship God." 

April 29 

Died Mrs. Allen, one of the belles of Philadelphia. She 
made one of her physicians declare a few days before she 
died upon his honor that she was not dying. 



A Memorial 163 

1800 

May 2 

Died Tench Francis, aged sixty-eight. He used to say 
that all poor men were rascals, that he hated a good man, 
also that he always avoided his friends when they were sick 
for he hated everything that was related to death. He once 
threatened to cane a sexton for inviting him to a funeral. 

May- 17 

This morning my dear and always beloved daughter, 
Emily Cuthbert, left me with her husband and child to go 
to Canada where she is to reside. She wept, as did all the 
servants in my family. My wife and daughter attended her 
to New York. My daughter Emily had never once offended 
me nor did I ever speak an angry or harsh word to her. Her 
very infancy and childhood were marked with uncommon 
gentleness and goodness. 

June 3 

Mr. Sharpless, the Painter, breakfasted and dined with 
me. He said the best time to sit for a picture was between 
breakfast and dinner. That a turn for painting and mechan- 
ics were related. He also said that when the French sailors 
raise an anchor one of the ship's officers stand by them and 
repeat every now and then the name of a great man. 

June 20 

John Montgomery, my sister's son, called to see me 
with a lieutenant's uniform. He had been just disbanded. 
His conversation was improper and rude. 

July 25 

Captain Ashmead informed me that he had been mar- 
ried forty years and had spent but ten of them with his 
family, the remaining thirty he had passed at sea. He was 
a fond father and husband and happy at home. 



164 Benjamin Rush 

1800 

EPITAPH FOR CAPTAIN JNO. ASHMEAD 

COMPOSED BY HIMSELF. 

"In life's hard bustle, on the troubled seas, 
Thro' many storms and many a prosperous breeze, 
Thro' winter's blasts, and summer's sultry sun 
From frigid, to the torrid zones I've run. 
In ninety voyages, thro' unnumber'd toils, 
I've sailed above 500,000 miles. 
Been taken ; foundered ; and oft cast away ; 
Yet weathered all, — in this close port to lay, 
Where a dead calm, my weary bark doth find 
Obliged to anchor — for the want of wind." 

August I 

Sam Bayard informed me that there had been twenty- 
four instances of suicide in New York in and since last 
Spring, three of whom were servant girls, one in conse- 
quence of being rebuked by her mistress. 

August 23 

Dr. Dow from Orleans breakfasted with me. He was 
on his way to Scotland after an absence of twenty-three 
years. He said at Orleans tho^e natives and old settlers 
who went out of the town and came in again took the yel- 
low fever last year, but no other natives or old settlers. He 
said diseases of the skin were very common in Orleans. He 
told me Don Galvez, the Governor of Florida, made it a 
practice to retire when he was angry and drink a bottle of 
claret to compose his body and mind. October 7, in the 
year 1755, my brother began to learn the languages with 
four classmates, three of whom died before 1772, the fourth 
about 1773; he is now the only survivor of his class. In 
the same years I was in a class with Eben Hazzard, William 
Williams, Alexander Huston, John Archer, Joseph Alex- 
ander, Thomas Ruston and Charles Cummins, all of whom 
except Huston are now living. Ruston died about 1804 and 
Williams in 1807. 



A Memorial 165 

1801 

Jany. 17 

This day saw Dr. Priestley, now in his sixty-eighth 
year. He said Dr. Heberden was his particular friend. 
That he was very charitable. That he sent him nearly i20 
a year to assist in conducting his experiments. That he 
had given himself wholly to religious inquiries and charities, 
and once said to a friend that after all he gave away he was 
afraid he should die shamefully rich. Dr. Priestley said 
Mr. Wesley used to say if he died worth more than £20, 
enough to bury him, he would give the world leave to call 
him an impostor. 

Jany. 25 

This day died my dear cousin, Dr. John Hall, he left 
me his Executor and Guardian of his only son. His black 
woman whom he had emancipated twenty years before, said 
he had been her master, father and mother. "If," said she, 
"any man had taken him away I would tear him to pieces, 
but as God Almighty has done it, why I must submit." 

Feby. 6 

This day died at White Hill, near Bordentown, my dear 
and much beloved mother-in-law, Mrs. Stockton. Her lat- 
ter end was happy and full of peace and joy. 

Feby. 12 

This day Dr. Priestley dined with me. He said his 
memory was so defective that he forgot not only what he 
had published but what he had written two weeks before 
for the press, although the subject of it required a good deal 
of investigation. 

Feby. 20 

This day Mrs. Adams dined with my family on her 
return from the Federal City to Braintree. 



1 66 Benjamin Rush 

1801 

Feby. 23 

This morning died at the Billet, near Philadelphia, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Ferguson, a woman of uncommon intelligence and 
virtue, admired, esteemed and beloved by a numerous circle 
of friends and acquaintances. Her life was marked with dis- 
tress from all its numerous causes, guilt excepted. An early- 
disappointment in love, the loss of all her near relations, bad 
health, an unfortunate marriage connection, poverty, and 
finally a slow and painful death, composed the ingredients 
that filled up her cup of suffering. She was the intimate 
friend of my dear mother-in-law who died a few weeks 
before her. I owe to her many obligations. She introduced 
me into her circle of friends, 

March 

Saw Dr. Priestley often this month. Attended him in a 
severe pleurisy. His conversation was always instructive. 
The following are the principal ideas collected from it: 
First. He had no opinion of those commentaries on the 
prophecies which fixed the time of our Saviour's coming, 
that time was known only to God. Second. He once attended 
a friend on his deathbed ; he squeezed his hand and said, 
"Take care of my name when I am gone, don't let them tear 
me to pieces." Third. Sir Christopher Wren upon seeing 
the citizens of London about to rebuild London as closely 
as before the great fire said, "You do not deserve such a 
fire." Fourth. Dr. Priestley received in legacies $2000, 
$500 and $100, from three different people since his arrival in 
America. Fifth. He said from the authority of Dr. Aiken 
that Dr. Doddridge had once invited Dr. Foster, the Socin- 
ian, to preach for him in Northampton and afterwards 
denied it in London. He confessed his want of veracity to 
Dr. Aiken years afterwards with tears. Sixth. In his sick- 
ness he said he was content and thankful, he was comforted 
by his son sending in the Psalms to him, and his son's wife 
in the book of Deuteronomy, which book he greatly ad- 



A Memorial 167 

I801 

mired. He once in his sickness spoke of his second son, 
William, and wept very much. Seventh. He once went to 
breakfast with Sir George Saville. Sir George got up late 
and said his head ached from sitting up till two o'clock in 
the House of Commons. A dreadful place, he said, to make 
havoc of the soul and body of man. He said Sir George 
was upon the whole honest but never but once left his party 
on any question. It is considered the only immorality in 
England for a man to leave his party. Mr, Adams once 
gave me the same information. Eighth. Dr. Priestley told 
me Dr. Franklin always wrote down his arguments or rea- 
sons for or against any measure before he decided on it and 
carefully viewed his papers etc. 

August I 

William Wister, aged fifty-six, died this day, a bachelor 
who had accumulated the large estate of $300,000. by the 
sale of British drygoods. He was kind, charitable, gener- 
ous, friendly and even just. He divided his estate justly by 
will among his relations. He was a Quaker by education. 
He was interred in the Baptist church-yard at the request 
of his brother-in-law. Colonel Miles. 

August 29 

The Rev. Dr. Willard dined with me. He is President 
of Cambridge College. He said it appeared from Mr. White- 
field's private journal that he had preached 18,000 sermons 
in the course of his life. This day died Robert Bass, aged 
near eighty years. He came to America with General Brad- 
dock in 1755 as an Apothecary to his Army, and settled after 
the war in Philadelphia. He was neat and correct in his 
manner of putting up his medicines which gave him a great 
deal of business. He accumulated a genteel estate, but was 
beloved by no one, being cynical, selfish and often rude to 
his customers. 



1 68 Benjamin Rush 

1801 

Sept. 4 

Amos Taylor died this day of suicide by a rope. He 
had been unsuccessful in speculation. Visited Dr. Hall at 
the Lazaretto in apparently the last stage of a chronic dis- 
ease from strong drink. Returned September 5th with Dr. 
James, whom I found a pleasant and agreeable companion. 
He had been studying the controversy between the Deists 
and Christians, and between the Calvinists and Universal- 
ists. He acknowledged himself a firm believer in the Chris- 
tian religion and disposed to believe in final restitution. 

Sept. 5 

My wife and youngest child went into New Jersey with 
the Rev. Mr. Hunter. Waited on John Quincy Adams and 
lady who arrived yesterday from Hamburg. He had been 
absent seven years from the United States and had been 
chiefly in Berlin, which he said contains 150,000 inhabitants. 
The country around it was poor but well cultivated. Grease 
substituted for butter, theft uncommon, but some vices very 
common. The late Frederick the Second, he said, was still 
idolized as a demagogue, he had two looks out of his eyes, 
one of sternness, the other of fascination, with the last he 
won his enemies. 

Sept. 7 

They drank coffee with me at Sydenham. 

Sept. 10 

They dined with me with George Clymer, Thomas 
Adams, Dr. Cox and Thomas Biddle. Mr. J. Q. Adams 
was very entertaining. He said reading was universal in 
Prussia. That there were ten thousand men who lived by 
book making and three hundred new novels published in 
Germany every year. That the Prussian Army consisted 
of 240,000 men. That the common soldiers suffered so 
much from discipline as often to kill themselves. That 
intemperance in eating was very common, that six persons 



A Memorial 169 

1801 

had died at table while he was in Berlin of Apoplexy, and 
one at a dance, a young man of twenty-one, from too tight 
clothes, especially a cravat tied around his neck by his 
servant. That nothing was spoken but French in all polite 
circles. That he had known the cold fifteen degrees below 
zero once at Berlin. That all their rooms were heated by 
ornamented stoves and that by confining the heat they used 
but little fuel, two fires a day being sufficient. Last night 
an attempt was made to break open our country house. The 
kitchen of the house was broken open on the previous Satur- 
day and the gardener's clothes stolen from his chest. 

Sept. 13 

Visited Dr. Hall at the Lazaretto, where I met William 
Savery, who visited the Doctor with me and gave him a 
pertinent exhortation suited to his apparently dying condi- 
tion. Mr. Savery informed me that he and George Dilwyn 
had spent half an hour about two years ago in the company 
of George the Third and his family. He said he had more 
knowledge than was generally believed. That he asked 
many questions relative to the affairs of Germany and 
France where Mr. Savery had been and of America. When 
Mr. Savery said the connection between the United States 
and Britain was a natural one from the sameness of religion, 
language &c., and that he hoped it would always continue, 
George the Third said : "God grant it." He asked if he, Mr. 
Savery, had seen the ruins of the City of Lyons. He said 
yes, and that 30,000 people had been destroyed there during 
the war. He cried out to his Queen, "Hear this, Charlotte." 
"Oh," said the Queen, "I have heard enough of it, I can't 
bear to hear any more about it." 

Sept. 17 

Died George Roberts, a wealthy, respectable citizen, of 
a cancer of near twenty years' continuance ; Dr. David Jack- 
son, a worthy, useful man ; Dr. James Hall, my former pupil 



170 Benjamin Rush 

1801 

and partner, he lived eight years in my family, during which 
time I never knew him to equivocate, much less to lie; he 
was amiable in his temper and elegant in his manner. 

Sept. 18 

Mr. Samuel Coates informed me that there was now at 
Abingdon a Quaker preacher who was one of thirteen chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom was above forty-five, all of 
whom are now living ; their father lived to be above eighty 
and was a native of Pennsylvania. 

Attended the funeral of George Roberts from his seat at 
Point-No-Point. Julia and Sam Rush accompanied me. 
Samuel Coates rode home with us in the funeral procession. 

Sept. 21 

The Rev. Mr. Bend and wife, of Baltimore, dined 
with me. 

Oct. 19 

Mr. Longbottom, a dentist from Jamaica, breakfasted 
with me. 

Oct. 25 

Dr. Tidyman and wife and Dr. Blythe and wife drank 
tea with us. The former Doctor had just returned, after a 
fifteen years' absence in Europe to South Carolina, his 
native State. Dr. Blythe was an old pupil of mine. Rev. 
Mr. Murray of Boston came in and sat with us two hours 
after tea. 

December 

Mr. Knight informed me that his grandfather brought 
some apple and pear seeds to Pennsylvania with William 
Penn in 1682 and planted them the same year at Abingdon ; 
twenty of those trees he said were now living. 



A Memorial 171 

1801 
Dec. 17 

This day visited a child of Mr. McKensie from Jamaica 
of twenty months' old, whose mother at that time was not 
fifteen years old. 

1802 
Jany. 4 

This day met the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital with all the physicians excepting Dr. Barton, and pro- 
posed to them ; first, to grant us a man of education to super- 
intend the lunatics, to walk with them, converse with them, 
&c., &c., in order to awaken and regulate their minds. 
Secondly, to finish the operating room for which we offered 
them Three hundred dollars a year of the book fund. 
Thirdly, to give us a movable vapor bath. We assented at 
the same time to their adding lying-in wards to the present 
institution. 

Feby. 

Three instances of suicide have occurred within the last 
month in this City; one, a man of the name of Fullerton, 
from being hissed off the stage. 

Feby. 4 

Received a visit from Dr. Watson, just returned from 
Spain. He was full of anecdotes of Spain and France. 
Madrid contained 200,000 inhabitants ; no suburbs or coun- 
try-seats. He said Bonaparte was a small man, quick in his 
motions, nearly runs in the streets and gallops in riding. 
Heard the Rev. John Leland of Massachusetts preach in 
the Baptist Church. His text was from Leviticus. He 
began: "My text is from the Old Testament, but I will 
give you a New Testament sermon. He said he could not 
sin cheap. Death was a great nothing. Good men thought 
the road to heaven wide enough. He was, he said, so impru- 
dent he never passed an hour nor preached a sermon with- 
out doing or saying something he was sorry for." His 
memory was wonderful. He repeated in the evening all the 



172 Benjamin Rush 

1802 

forty-two places at which the Children of Israel encamped in 
going from Egypt to Canaan. 

March 6 

This day the College of New Jersey was burned to the 
ground. During this month I was called upon to assist 
Robert Smith in getting subscriptions to rebuild the Col- 
lege. He got Six hundred dollars in three days. 

March 8 

Last night I dreamed of reflecting upon the general 
neglect with which details and complaints of mad men are 
treated when the following sentence occurred to me : "His 
words of woe serve but to swell the proud periods of the 
poet's verse." To-day we saw an old German woman in our 
walk in Filbert Street between Seventh and Eighth Streets 
who was said to be above one hundred years old. She 
remembered William Penn. She lived in a poor hovel with 
three dogs on a lot that was her own. I asked her if she 
had a Will by her. She said "No," she did not think she 
was near dying, she hoped to live a hundred years longer, 
for her father, she said, was then living in Germany and 
was between two and three hundred years old. A similar 
instance of folly and self-deception occurred in Tench 
Francis in his last illness. Upon being advised to settle his 
affairs he said he did not think it certain he should die at 
any time. Upon being told that death was the portion of all 
mankind, he said: "Yes, that was the case formerly, but 
there may be new orders, and I may yet be exempted from 
dying and live forever in this world." 

Many failures occurred among the merchants of Phila- 
delphia during the last winter. 

April 25 

Dr. Enoch Edwards, my first pupil, thirty-one years 
ago, died. He was idle and dissipated when a young man, 
but when he settled became an active, intelligent and useful 



A Memorial 173 

1802 

member of society, and a friendly, worthy man. He 
arranged everything relative to his funeral before he died, 
and even named the joiner who was to make his coffin. 

April 26 

Died John Stille. He had been my tailor near forty 
years and I had been the physician of his family above thirty 
years. His understanding and knowledge were far above 
his occupation. He was amiable in his manners and re- 
spected by everyone. He had not an enemy in the world, I 
never heard any person speak against him. 

July 9 

Died, universally and justly lamented, on Wednesday 
morning near Frankford, in the 42d year of her age, Mrs. 
Rebecca Smith, wife of Mr. Robert Smith, merchant, of 
this city. A mind elevated by nature, education and religion, 
rendered this excellent woman an object of uncommon 
respect and esteem to all who knew her. She lived to a 
numerous family as if she owed no obligations to society, 
and she lived to society, as if she had no family. Such was 
the modest and private use she made of the talents and 
virtues with which heaven had endowed her, that their 
benevolent application was seldom known, except by acci- 
dent, to her most intimate friends. During a tedious and 
distressing illness there was no departure in impatience, or 
complaint, from the natural propriety and dignity of her 
character. With every comfort, and tie to life that could 
make it desirable, she met the approach of death with com- 
posure, and resigned her breath, with a full reliance upon 
the merits of a Redeemer for her future happiness. 

Nov. 16 

This night at twelve o'clock died my excellent friend 
the Rev. William Marshall. We settled in Philadelphia the 
same year, 1769, and lived in the most uninterrupted friend- 
ship ever since. He was a profound Divine, an eminent 



174 Benjamin Rush 

1802 

Christian, a correct and systematic preacher and a most 
instructing and entertaining companion. He built by his 
influence two Presbyterian Churches during his life in 
Philadelphia. I loved him sincerely and deplored his death 
affectionately. A few hours before he died he squeezed 
my hand with his hand which was cold with the coldness of 
death and said, "Ah, my friend, my friend, not lost but gone 
before!" Many and delightful were the hours we passed 
together and much of what I knew of many subjects con- 
nected with theology I derived from his conversation. Dur- 
ing his illness he spoke frequently upon religious subjects 
and always with his usual good sense. Upon my complain- 
ing of my inability to save life where I was most anxious 
to do it, he said, "Oh, Doctor, there is an awful decree 
against the certainty of your profession, viz. 'It is appointed 
for all men once to die.' " Upon my complaining at another 
time of the abortive issue of many of my plans for promot- 
ing the happiness of my fellow citizens, he said, "Don't be 
uneasy upon that account, our Saviour will say at the day 
of judgment, 'Well done thou faithful, not thou successful 
servant.' Let this comfort you under all your disappoint- 
ments. If you have been faithful it will be enough." He 
was unwilling to believe himself dying, when asked about 
half an hour before he died by his nephew if he had any- 
thing to say about his affairs to say it for that he had not 
long to live. "Why," said he, "do you suppose me to be 
dying?" "Yes, I do," said his nephew. "You are very much 
mistaken," said he, "I am not." 

Dec. 9 

Dined this day at Captain Manly's with three Metho- 
dist Ministers, viz. Mr. Cooper, Mr. McGlashey and Mr. 
Kirk, the last an Irishman now of New York, told me that 
a Mr. Pickering, a gentleman of eminent piety in Dublin, 
had told him that Mr. John Wesley had acknowledged to 
him not long before he died that he believed in final restitu- 



A Memorial i75 

1802 

tion, also in the resurrection of some of the brute creation. 
Mr. Pickering asked him, ''Why, then, don't you preach the 
doctrine of final restitution." He told him he had hinted at 
it in London among his friends, but they did not relish it 
and he was afraid by publishing it he might injure his use- 
fulness. Mr. Kirk said further that Mr. Wesley had in the 
course of his life written and published two hundred octavo 
volumes and that for many years he wrote four thousand 
letters, preached eight hundred times and rode eight thou- 
sand miles in every year. Mr. G — d, a merchant from small 
beginnings, became immensely rich, in this elevated situa- 
tion he punished a sea captain whom he forbade to bring 
anything from Calcutta on his account by dismissing him 
from his service for only bringing a present to a lady to 
whom he was engaged in a handkerchief. He insulted a 
worthy and sensible man for only hinting his advice to him 
how to get one of his ships oflf the stocks, and gave an 
abrupt answer to a respectable citizen who asked him what 
he was going to do with some boards he was hauling to one 
of his lots. Men will be gods. 

1803 

Feby. i 

I prevented a duel between my pupil John Wooten and 
Daniel Wilson by informing Alderman Robert Wharton of 
it, who between eleven and twelve o'clock arrested them and 
bound them over to their good behavior. 

April 1 8 

This morning at three o'clock died of a consumption 
Rev. Thomas Ustick, Minister -of a Baptist Church. An 
amiable, inoffensive man, a sincere Christian and faithful 
Minister of the Gospel. He was my warm and constant 
friend. 

May 14 

Died this day at four o'clock the Rev. Dr. William 
Smith, formerly Provost of the College of Philadelphia, in 



176 Benjamin Rush 

1803 

the seventy-seventh year of his age, being seventy-six on 
the 20th of the preceding April. This man's Hfe and char- 
acter would fill a volume. He was a native of Scotland and 
arrived in Philadelphia above fifty years ago, and for many 
years made a distinguished figure in the politics of Pennsyl- 
vania. He possessed genius, taste and learning. As a 
teacher he was perspicuous and agreeable, and as a preacher 
solemn, eloquent and impressive in a high degree. Unhap- 
pily his conduct in all his relations and situations was 
opposed to his talents and profession. His person was slov- 
enly and his manners awkward and often offensive in com- 
pany. In the duties he owed to his College he was deficient, 
insomuch that a person who knew him well, upon being 
asked where he should find Dr. Smith, answered, "Any- 
where but at the College." His time and talents were prin- 
cipally devoted to acquiring property by taking up new 
lands. For these he exposed himself to cold, heat, and dan- 
gers of various kinds, and for these he often made sacri- 
fices, 'tis said, of conscience and reputation. A single act 
will illustrate this part of his character. He had acquired 
a grant from Mr. Penn to a tract of land which had been 
occupied for many years. To acquire a title to it it was 
necessary he should survey it. The person who lived on 
it declared if he attempted to carry a chain around it he 
would shoot him. The Doctor gave out that he should 
preach in the neighborhood of this person on a certain day. 
He went with his family to hear him and while he was from 
home the Doctor had the land surveyed without interrup- 
tion by men whom he had previously hired for that purpose. 
From spending his time in the woods and in that kind of 
company to which his land pursuits led him he early con- 
tracted a love for strong drink and became towards the close 
of his life an habitual drunkard. He was often seen to reel 
and once to fall in the streets of Philadelphia. His temper 
was irritable in the highest degree and when angry he 
swore in the most extravagant manner. He seldom paid a 



A Memorial i77 

1803 

debt without being sued or without a quarrel, he was 
extremely avaricious and lived after acquiring an estate of 
$50,000 in penury and filth at a country house he built when 
a young man at the Falls of Schuylkill. In this retired situ- 
ation he passed the last ten years of his life under the direc- 
tion and influence of a German girl who, it was said, not 
only robbed him but often treated him with neglect and 
insult. He had three sons and one daughter to whom he 
acted generously in donating his property, but whom he 
treated so rudely that they avoided his society as much as 
possible. After he passed his seventieth year he made sev- 
eral excursions into the Western Counties of Pennsylvania 
in order to view and settle his lands. The leisure from his 
worldly pursuits during the last two years of his life was 
employed in preparing several volumes of sermons for the 
press. In proportion as his health declined he detached 
himself from this employment and applied himself 
wholly to the settling of his affairs. After his sickness 
confined him to his bed he received a communion, and 
said to Dr. Blackwell, upon a review of his life, he saw noth- 
ing to reproach himself with but having been a little too 
irritable in his temper, and to me he said, "Had I to live 
my life over again I would never take up lands in partner- 
ship with anybody." This appeared to be the only error he 
deplored in his conduct in the course of his long journey 
through life. On his deathbed he never spoke upon any 
subject connected with religion or his future state, nor was 
there a Bible or Prayer Book ever seen in his room. His 
bed was surrounded with trunks of papers and his constant 
employment consisted in opening and reading them. When 
he was unable to read them from the weakness of his eye- 
sight he had them strewed upon the bed and gazed upon 
them ; after he lost his sight he called for his papers. His 
nurse put two old papers upon medical subjects into his 
hands with which he amused himself about an hour before 
be died. Sometimes he obliged his son to read descriptions 
12 



178 Benjamin Rush 

1803 

of his lands to him when he lay on his deathbed. So familiar 
were they to him that he corrected his son's reading when 
he mistook a single perch. During his illness he swore often 
at his nurses, for he had three in succession, at his son and 
once at his physician. This might be ascribed to delirium 
or imbecility of mind were it not too notorious that he was 
an habitual swearer in the most healthy period of his life. 
That this conduct in life should want no folly he courted an 
accomplished and excellent woman about a year before he 
died and urged his suit by a promise to make a handsome 
settlement upon her. She refused his offer in a manner that 
became her character. With this deficiency of virtue he 
possessed great influence in society, acquired by industry, 
perseverance and flattery, also by threats when he dared to 
use them. It was a favorite maxim with him that to gain 
mankind it was necessary not to respect him, and he often 
boasted that he had never failed in any of his enterprises. 
In reviewing the character of this man we are struck with 
the great contrariety of his morals and his religious princi- 
ples. But the character is not a new one. From the writ- 
ings of St. Paul it is evident that it is possible to hold the 
truth in unrighteousness. He descended to his grave which 
he had formed for himself in a mausoleum on a country- 
seat which he left to the Church, without being lamented 
"by a human creature. From the absence of all his children 
not a drop of kindred blood attended his funeral. It was 
remarkable with all his attachments to this world he often 
spoke of his death, funeral and grave. In one fit of his 
asthma, which threatened his dissolution, he sent to his 
brother's wife for a shroud. I once asked him what his 
prospects hereafter were. He answered, he had no doubt of 
being happy and that he dreaded only the pains of dying. 
He said jocularly, he hoped death would not give him a 
hard squeeze for he had never been his enemy having sel- 
dom even preached against him. His self-deception ap- 
peared further in a note he once sent me in a violent fit of 



A Memorial 179 

1803 

his disease. "Come and see a resigned Christian die." In 
a visit I paid him the day but one before he died he com- 
plained of my leaving him too soon and then in angry tones 
said, "By the Lord God, if you don't stay longer with me I 
will send for another Doctor," and instantly afterwards 
damned his nurse who sat by him. From a review of all 
the facts here stated and hundreds more of a similar nature 
that might be mentioned, he appears to have been a nonde- 
script in the history of man. 

May 19 

Heard this day from the Rev. Dr. Nesbit that the Rev. 
Dr. John Erskine of Edinborough died January 19th of the 
present year. He was my friend when in Scotland and my 
correspondent ever since. Few clergymen have ever lived 
or died whose benevolence and usefulness filled a larger 
sphere. 

1804 
Jany. 17 

Died at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Rev. Dr. Charles 
Nesbit, Principal of the College at that place, aged sixty- 
six. He was in acquired knowledge a walking library. He 
knew a great deal of many and a little of all subjects. His 
knowledge was derived from books that few people read 
and that many people never heard of. This was owing to a 
peculiar circumstance. He lived next door to a pastry cook 
at Montrose in Scotland, who used to import old books from 
London by the barrel to put their leaves under his pies. 
Before he tore them up he permitted Dr. Nesbit to look over 
them and to take such as he wanted at a trifling price for 
his own use. These books the Doctor read and from them 
extracted a great deal of rare and uncommon knowledge. 
He was an excellent companion and his conversation over- 
flowed with wit, humor and instructing anecdotes. Unhap- 
pily he was like Dr. South of a querulous disposition and 
more disposed to find fault than to praise. His usefulness 



i8o Benjamin Rush 

1804 

to society was by no means proportioned to his uncommon 
abilities and extensive knowledge. He rather resembled a 
fountain which poured forth streams in a royal garden for 
the amusement of spectators than a rich and copious stream 
that fertilized in its course an extensive country. He died, 
it was said, of a broken heart occasioned by the bad con- 
duct of his eldest son who was a notorious drunkard and 
who in a fit of insanity struck his father. 

Feby. 6 

This day died in Northumberland the Rev. Dr. Priest- 
ley. For the particulars of his death see the annexed paper 
written by his friend Thomas Cooper. 

DEATH OF DR. PRIESTLEY 

The death of this great and good man has already been 
announced to the public, but, as the manner in which he left 
this world, furnishes a striking proof of the importance of 
religious principles, and the efficacy of Xian hope, not only 
gratified by a brief recital of what took place during the 
close of the illness which terminated in his death. 

It is true that Dr. Priestley differed in opinion from 
the generality of Xians on several doctrinal points; but he 
heartily concurred with them in a belief of the existence, 
perfections, and providence of Almighty God, the truth and 
excellence of Divine Revelation, the Messiahship of Jesus, 
the necessity of holiness in heart and life, and a future state 
of righteous retribution at the second coming of Christ. 

His general conduct through life and particularly on 
many great and trying occasions, sufficiently proved how 
much he was influenced by these great principles ; yet the 
force of them was still more conspicuously displayed during 
his late illness and particularly during the last days of his 
life. He died not with resignation merely, but with cheer- 



A Memorial i8i 

1804 

fulness; considering death, after an useful and well spent 
life, as necessary to enable him to enter on a new and 
enlarged sphere of action, as the labourer does sleep at night 
to enable him to perform the duties of another day. 

Since his illness at Philadelphia, in the year 1801, he 
never regained his former good state of health. His com- 
plaint was constant indigestion and difficulty of swallowing 
food of any kind. — But during this period of general de- 
bility, he was busily employed in printing his Church 
History and the first volume of his notes on the Scriptures, 
and in making new and original experiments. During this 
period likewise, he wrote his pamphlet of Jesus and 
Socrates compared, and reprinted his essay on Phlogiston. 

From about the beginning of November, 1803, to the 
middle of January, 1804, his complaint grew more serious ; 
yet, by judicial medical treatment, and strict attention to 
diet, he after some time seemed if not gaining strength at 
least not getting worse; and his friends fondly hoped that 
his health would continue to improve as the season ad- 
vanced. He, however, considered his life very precarious. 
Even at this time, besides his miscellaneous reading, which 
was at all times very extensive, he read through all the 
works quoted in his comparison of the different systems of 
the Grecian Philosophers with Xianity, composed that 
work, and transcribed the whole of it in less than three 
months. — So that he has left it ready for the press. During 
this period, he composed, in one day, his second reply to 
Dr. Linn, 

In the last fortnight of January, his fits of indigestion 
became more alarming, his legs swelled, and his weakness 
increased. Within two days of his death, he became so 
weak that he could walk but a little way, and that with 
great difficulty: for some time he found himself unable to 
speak ; but on recovering a little, he told his friends that he 
had never felt more pleasantly during his whole life-time, 
than during the time that he was unable to speak. He was 



1 82 Benjamin Rush 

1804 

fully sensible that he had not long to live, yet talked with 
cheerfulness to all who called on him. In the course 
of the day, he expressed his thankfulness at being permitted 
to die quietly, in his family, without pain, and with every 
convenience and comfort that he could wish for. He dwelt 
upon the peculiarly happy situation in which it had pleased 
the Divine Being to place him in life, and the great advan- 
tage he had enjoyed in the acquaintance and friendship of 
some of the best and wisest of men in the age in which he 
lived, and the satisfaction he derived from having led an 
useful as well as a happy life. He this day gave directions 
about printing the remainder of his notes on Scripture, (a 
work, in the completion of which he was much interested), 
and looked over the first sheet of the third volume, after it 
was corrected by those who were to attend to its comple- 
tion, and expressed his satisfaction at the manner of its 
being executed. 

On Sunday the 5th, he was much weaker, but sat up in 
an arm-chair for a few minutes. He desired that John XI 
chap, might be read to him — he stopped the reader at the 
45th verse, dwelt for some time on the advantage he had 
derived from reading the scriptures daily, and recommended 
this practice, saying, that it would prove a source of the 
purest pleasure. "We shall all (said he) meet finally; we 
only require different degrees of discipline suited to our 
different tempers, to prepare us for final happiness," 

Mr. coming into his room, he said : "You see, sir, I 

am still living." Mr. observed, "that he would 

always live." "Yes, I believe I shall; we shall meet again 
in another and a better world." He said this with great 

animation, laying hold of Mr. 's hand in both his own. 

After evening prayers, when his grandchildren were 
brought to his bed-side, he spoke to them separately, and 
exhorted them to continue to love each other, &c. "I am 
going (added he) to sleep as well as you ; for death is only 



A Memorial 183 

1804 

a good long sound sleep in the grave — and we shall meet 
again." 

On Monday morning, the 6th of February, on being 
asked how he did, he answered in a faint voice, that he had 
no pain, but appeared fainting away gradually. About 8 
o'clock he desired to have three pamphlets which had been 
looked out by his directions the evening before. He then 
dictated as clearly and distinctly as he had ever done in his life, 
the additions and alterations which he wished to have made in 

each. Mr. took down the substance of what he 

said, which was read to him : He observed, "Sir, you have 
put it in your own language: I wish it to be in mine.'" He 
then repeated over again, nearly word for word what he had 
before said, and when it was transcribed and read over to 
him, he said, "That is right, I have now done." 

About half an hour after, he desired that he might be 
moved to a cot. — About ten minutes after he was moved to 
it, he died ; but breathed his last so easily, that those who 
were sitting close to him, did not immediately perceive it. 
He had put his hand to his face, which prevented them 
from observing it. 

He was born on the 24th of March, 1733. 

Mark the perfect and behold the upright: 
For the end of that man is peace. 

Feby. 7 

Died at Bath William Bingham, of this City. He left 
an estate valued at Three million of dollars, half a million 
of which was in stocks of different kinds. He was pleasant 
in his manners, amiable in his temper, liberal, but said not 
to be charitable. He died in his fifty-third year. He 
acquired his immense estate by his own ingenuity. Mr. 
Adams informed me that Mr. Bingham had borrowed sixty 
thousand pounds sterling in Holland, all of which he laid 
out in certificates when they were at 2/6 and 3 shillings in 
a pound. In all his money speculations he was fortunate. 



184 Benjamin Rush 

1804 

March i 

Died Edward Stiles, worth near $200,000. A poor 
ignorant avaricious creature, he withheld all the comforts 
of life from his only son ; he has seldom paid a debt without 
being sued for it, even his taxes were extorted from him by 
law. He had no confidence in banks nor funds. He loved 
silver, gold, bonds and real property only. $28,000 were 
found in his chests and his keys were found under his body 
after his death. This month a whale killed at Reedy Island 
thirty-seven feet in length was exhibited at a show near 
Kensington to many spectators, perhaps a thousand. 

Epitaph composed many years ago on Dr. Priestley, 
taken from an English paper : 

" Here lie at rest 
In open chest 

Together packed most nicely 
The blood and veins 
The bones and brains 
And soul of Dr. Priestley." 

March 10 

Dined this day with the Rev. Henry Coke at Henry 
Manly's. He said the members of the Methodist Church 
were 94,000 in Britain, 25,000 in Ireland, 17,000 in the West 
Indies and 104,000 in America. That no member of their 
Society in Britain was a legislator, magistrate, or even a 
captain of militia, but that some of them were now in arms 
as privates in the militia. That their Ministers neither 
advised them nor dissuaded them from taking up arms. 
That he had never been but once insulted or ill-treated in all 
his travels and voyages on account of his principles as a 
Methodist and that was by a Baltimore Captain with whom 
he arrived in this country. That he intended to sue him 
but was prevented by a sudden impression of the text on 
his mind, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," The man per- 
ished at sea two years afterwards. The Doctor said he had 
crossed the Atlantic seventeen times. He had lately spent 



A Memorial 185 

1804 

a day with Dr. Paley at Carlisle, of whom he spoke highly. 
He knew Bishop Horn. He said he was pious but now and 
then lost dignity by punning in conversation. He spoke 
against titles and said they created more pride than wealth. 
He said the Deists everywhere were kind to the Methodists. 
Dr. Darwin was so in a remarkable degree having never 
charged any of their preachers for his medical services. 

June 21 

Was visited by the Baron von Humbolt, a Prussian 
Nobleman of great talents and erudition. He had just 
returned from spending six years in South America, every 
part of which he had examined with the eye of a philoso- 
pher, naturalist, physician and a man. He was communi- 
cate of what he had acquired in his travels. The results of 
his conversation are recorded elsewhere. 

June 27 

The Baron, with his two fellow-travellers, Mr. Bon- 
pland and Mr. Montrefia, drank tea with me this afternoon. 
The Baron was as usual entertaining and instructing on all 
subjects. 

June 29 

Supped with him at John Mifflin's. He said all the 
mints of Mexico and Peru were private property and that 
money was coined there at a moderate expense. That 
Thirty-eight millions were coined in the two countries, 
Twenty-five and Twenty-eight in Mexico. The mines of 
Peru were the richest but small in number. That since the 
year 1612, Nineteen hundred millions of dollars had been 
coined in one mint at Mexico alone. The coinage had 
gradually increased since that time to its present amount. 
That nine and a half per cent, duty was paid to the King, 
amounting to about Four millions. It would be a curious 
question, said the Baron, to determine the moral influence 
of the money coined since the year 1612 on the world. The 



1 86 Benjamin Rush 

1804 

increase of the inhabitants on the globe made an increase 
of money necessary everywhere. The Chinese, he said, did 
not bury their money. He could not account for its dis- 
appearing there. He said about Three million of dollars 
were coined in Germany, only two millions in France. He 
said the whitest Indians he saw were nearly under the 
Equator and the blackest above twenty degrees from it. 
He said on the Jembaracco Mountain below snow fifteen 
feet under the ground were found deep beds of ice at all 
seasons and on no other mountain. 

July 12 

Died of a wound received in a duel the day before from 
Colonel Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Esquire, the Aide of 
Washington in the field, and his principal counsellor in the 
Cabinet while President of the United States. He was 
learned, ingenious and eloquent, and the object of universal 
admiration and attachment of one party and of hatred of 
the other party which then constituted the American people. 
He was greatly and universally lamented. Funeral orations 
were delivered in honor of him in New York and Boston 
and funeral sermons preached upon his death in many 
Churches. Mourning was worn for him by many of the 
citizens of the principal cities and towns in the United 
States. Colonel Burr visited Philadelphia the week after- 
wards, went into company and walked the streets with 
apparent unconcern. General Hamilton lost a son two 
years before in a duel, which duel he knew and approved of. 
On his death-bed he condemned this duelling in strong 
terms. 

August 30 

Died suddenly of a rupture of a blood vessel in his 
lungs the Rev. Dr. John Blair Linn, aged twenty-seven, a 
young man of promising talent. 



A Memorial 187 

1804 



Oct. I 



This evening died in consequence of falling into the 
fire Mrs. M. McClenachan, wife of Blair McClenachan. She 
lived but four hours afterwards ; said she felt no bodily pain 
but pain of mind only. About the same time died Dr. 
Thomas Ruston. He had been my schoolmate and class- 
mate four years and we grew up in friendship for each other. 
After succeeding to an estate of forty thousand guineas by 
the death pf his father-in-law, he lost all the habits of inno- 
cence, friendship and benevolence of his early life and 
became a sort of speculator and an oppressor even of some 
branches of his own family. He spent the above sum in 
five years and came out of jail a bankrupt. He reduced 
his family to great poverty and distress. After his misfor- 
tunes &c. he attempted to pay his addresses to two of the 
richest widows in Philadelphia and of the most respectable 
characters and families. Though treated with every pos- 
sible indignity by them he believed one of them to be par- 
tial to him and he called upon Bishop White to attend at 
her house on a certain evening to marry them. He was 
the object of the contempt and pity of the whole city. 

May I 

Mrs. Bard of New York, told me that Mrs. Duche had 
a delicate stomach and that lest it should be ofTended by 
the food she ate at sea she always took off her spectacles 
when she sat down to her meals that she might not see 
anything disgusting in her food. How wisely would we 
act in company, in hearing sermons, in speaking of absent 
friends, in travelling &c. always to take oflf our spectacles. 
By this practice we should avoid feeling and giving a great 
deal of pain in our journey through life. Mrs. Duche once 
said to me she would rather make successful caudle to 
please the palate of a sick person than discover a Georgium 
Sidus. 



1 88 Benjamin Rush 

1807 

May 27 

This day my two daughters, Emily Cuthbert and 
Mary Manners, and their two children with Mr. Cuthbert 
and Miss Antrobus, niece to Mr. Cuthbert, and two ser- 
vants arrived upon a visit to my family to the great joy 
of all of us. 

June 8 

Finished the notes on Pringle. 

June 23 

This day I witnessed the laying of the corner-stone of 
St. James's Church in Seventh Street by Bishop White, 
attended by the vestry &c. of his Church. The Bishop, 
after a short address to the bystanders, offered up a short 
prayer for the success of the undertaking and for the safety 
and lives of the persons who were to be employed in build- 
ing the Church. 

June 29 

This day Rev. Mr. Pilmore informed me that in 1783 
he visited a Rev. Mr. Perrouet, a clergyman of the Church 
of England, in the ninetieth year of his age. He rose when 
he came into his room and said: 'T rise to receive you in 
the Name of the Lord." He then said that he believed great 
events were about to be brought about. That there would 
be a great overturning of all the nations in the earth and 
that then the Millennium would come. "I shall," said he, 
"soon die and go to heaven from whence I shall look down 
and see it, but you may live to see it." 

July I 

This day my two beloved daughters with their two 
children and Mr. Cuthbert &c. left us for their return to 
Canada. It was to us all a day of sorrow; one of them, 
Mary, we shall probably never see again. 



A Memorial 189 

1807 

July 2 

A town meeting was held of which I was invited to 
be Chairman. I declined it partly on account of the dis- 
tress I felt from parting with my daughters. There was 
in addition nothing in my heart that vibrated with the 
objects of the meeting. 

July 24 

This day Dr. Dauxion Lavaysse, a Swiss, breakfasted 
with me. He had lived ten years in Trinidad and had been 
educated in Edinborough. He was amiable, sensible, well- 
read, and what was more extraordinary in a French phy- 
sician, a firm believer in Christianity and in Dr. Clark's 
doctrine of the Trinity. He spoke highly of a Dr. Anrie 
at Guadeloupe, who had been persecuted for his new opin- 
ions in medicine and his attachment to republican princi- 
ples. 

Sept. 20 

This day visited Mrs. Coxe, a daughter of my old mas- 
ter Dr. Redman, who returned to Philadelphia after an 
absence of twenty-four years to see her aged parents, her 
father eighty-four and her mother eighty-two. They were 
highly gratified and revived on seeing her. Her venerable 
father said to me when he left her twenty-four years ago 
that, "he that loved father or mother or wife or child more 
than me is unworthy of me." With this text he said he had 
been comforted. This day he said to me that he owed 
ten thousand talents for this new debt contracted to 
heaven and that as he could not pay a farthing for it he 
was determined to turn bankrupt and throw himself wholly 
upon the mercy of his divine creditor. 

Sept. 21 

This day Dr. Smith of Virginia called upon me on his 
way to New York, to which place he had been invited to 
teach Anatomy in the new College of that City. 



190 Benjamin Rush 

1807 

December 31 

This evening died under my care Charles Nichols, 
born in the Island of Jersey November, 1759. He left his 
parents when ten years old and spent the early part of 
his youth in a humble situation at sea. After he was 
twenty-one he acquired a little property upon which he 
traded occasionally in Boston, Philadelphia, England, 
France and Denmark, and accumulated in the course of 
his life about Twelve thousand dollars. He was singular 
in his person, being small and ill-made; singular in his 
temper and disposition, being irritable and economical in 
a high degree, and singular in his conduct during his last 
illness. This appeared in the indifference with which he 
spoke of his death and funeral, also in the continuance 
of an old habit of swearing and in his refusing to receive 
the visits of a clergyman. He was singular in the manner 
in which he disposed of his property, this was in charities 
and in legacies to particular friends ; one of the former 
was Five thousand dollars which he left to the Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital upon a condition that he should be buried 
within the enclosures of the Hospital and have a monu- 
ment erected over his grave with an inscription upon it 
in honor of his donation to the Hospital. He was singular 
in the manner in which he arranged his clothes, and many 
other matters, in four or five trunks which he left behind 
him. In several different bags and boxes were found Six 
hundred dollars in gold, among which were fifty new Eng- 
lish guineas neatly wrapped in separate pieces of paper 
as if to prevent the diminution of their value by attri- 
tion against each other. Wrapped up with equal care in 
separate pieces of paper were found parcels of rusty nails, 
pieces of wax, cork, some punk, hasps of doors, and fifty 
other things of no more value. And that he might appear 
a nondescript in everything he died of a singular disease. 
He was buried January 2d, 1808, in the garden of the 
Pennsylvania Hospital. 



A Memorial 191 

1808 

February 

Dr. Alexander Ramsay brought me a letter of intro- 
duction from Mr. Robert Liston, He had been educated 
in Edinborough where he taught Anatomy by dissection. 
He came to this country to investigate the cause of the 
yellow fever, he gave six lectures in New York and six 
in Philadelphia upon what he called the natural theology 
of the human body. These lectures were desultory, 
incoherent and a melange of natural history, metaphysics, 
morals and religion, but they were now and then illu- 
mined by a striking fact and bold flights of genius. His 
person was short and deformed and his manner comic. 
From the latter arose much of the entertainment he gave 
his hearers, who amounted to two hundred in number. 
In private conversation he was more regular and coherent, 
and instructed as well as pleased. He appeared to be 
amiable and inoffensive. He was vain but his vanity was 
more the fault of his head than his heart. He was about 
forty years of age. 

March xg 

Died my venerable and excellent Preceptor in medi- 
cine, Dr. John Redman, aged eighty-six years and nearly 
one month. His death was induced by an apoplexy which 
continued twenty-two hours. 

May 5 

This day sent a check to Mr. Coates for $35i.63>^ for 
the Pennsylvania Hospital, with the following note : 
"Dear Sir: I enclose you a check for $351,635^ for the 
use of the Pennsylvania Hospital, being a sum of money 
bequeathed to me by the late Charles Nichols to be 
applied to charitable purposes. With great respect for 
yourself and your colleagues in the management of the 
institution committed to your care, I am dear sir, your 
and their friend and brother, 

BENJAMIN RUSH." 



192 Benjamin Rush 

1808 

May 25 

This evening died Dr. James Reynolds. He was an 
exile from Ireland upon account of his Democratic prin- 
ciples. He possessed talents and knowledge and was very 
popular among his countrymen. Company, losses and dis- 
appointments drove him to drink and he died in conse- 
quence of it. 

July II 

This day at six o'clock in the evening died at his 
country-seat near Germantown, aged seventy-two years. 
Dr. William Shippen. His disease was introduced by an 
anthrax. His last symptoms were a diarrhoea and sore- 
ness in the oesophagus which rendered swallowing pain- 
ful. He had talents but which from disuse became weak. 
He was too indolent to write, to read, and even to think, 
but with the stock of knowledge he acquired when young 
maintained some rank in his profession, especially as a 
teacher of Anatomy, in which he was eloquent, luminous 
and pleasing. He lived chiefly in convivial company in 
which he was always a welcome and agreeable member. 
His chief pleasure consisted in the enjoyments of the 
table. To these and to young company he retained an 
attachment till within a few years of his death, when a 
vertigo obliged him to alter his manner of living. At this 
time he became thoughtful and inquisitive upon the sub- 
ject of his future state. He retained his reason but not 
his speech to the last hour of his life and gave signs to 
certain questions that were proposed to him. That he 
died a believer in the Gospel and that all his hopes of 
happiness were founded upon the merits of Jesus Christ. 
I attended him in his last illness. 

Sept. 

This month died my worthy friend and correspond- 
ent, John Montgomery, Esquire, of Carlisle, in the eighty- 
seventh year of his age. He was a man of sound sense 



A Memorial 193 

1808 

and great zeal in the cause of religion and learning. The 
College of Carlisle was indebted greatly to his labors for 
its existence. He retained his faculties and continued his 
usefulness to the last week of his life. His two last let- 
ters to me written a few weeks before his death discovered 
not the least decay of intellect. Blest Saint, adieu! 

Oct. 28 

Last night died my wife's aunt, Mrs. Hannah Boudi- 
not, wife of Elias Boudinot, at Burlington, in the seventy- 
second year of her age. She was an excellent woman and 
a shining example of Christian virtue and piety. She never 
took the least part in her husband's nefarious attempt to 
rob me of my character and Thomas Bradford of his prop- 
erty. 

Nov. 16 

This evening Dr. Crawford of Baltimore drank tea 
with me. He said his father was a clergyman in Ireland 
and that from 30 a year salary with the product of a glebe 
he had given four sons liberal educations and professions 
and left two daughters each £500 sterling. The Doctor 
said he had lost all his business by propagating an unpopu- 
lar opinion in medicine, namely, that all diseases were 
occasioned by animalculas. He said he was sixty-two 
years of age and not worth a cent, but in debt. 

Dec. 12 

This evening met twenty-five citizens at Mr. Ral- 
ston's for the purpose of establishing a Bible Society. 
At the request of three or four gentlemen I opened the 
business of the meeting. A Constitution was then offered 
which was subscribed by all the company present with 
great zeal and cordiality. Bishop White presided at this 
meeting. Two previous meetings were held at Mr. Ral- 
ston's to prepare the business for the above meeting, at 
which were present Mr. Ralston, the Rev. Messrs. Archi- 
bald Alexander, Jacob Janeway and Benjamin Rush. 



194 Benjamin Rush 

1809 

May 15 

To-day the particulars of a duel were published in sev- 
eral newspapers. The name of one of the parties, Sir 
George Maclin, and the initials and finals of the names 
of one of the seconds and the surgeons and the cause and 
place of the duel and the wounds given to each party were 
all mentioned. The account excited general attention. 
Upon inquiry there was not a word of truth in it. 

May 20 

This day Mr. John Murdock informed me that Mr. 
T. Francis had informed him that one of the Priests of the 
Catholic Church had brought him one thousand dollars 
which he said had been stolen from him, Francis, by one 
of his clerks many years ago. Mr. Francis did not sus- 
pect any person w^ho had lived with him and had not 
missed the money thus restored. Another subject of con- 
versation at this time was the marriage between a Mrs. 
Smith, a wealthy widow with two children, of respectable 
family, and her overseer. She was universally censured 
for it. "There are three subjects," says Dr. Franklin, 
"which interest a man's self only, and yet there are no 
three subjects the world interests itself more in, namely: 
building a house, marrying a wife, and making a will. 
Marriages give offense to the public in the following 
order: First, no fortune on either side; second, great 
inferiority of age on the woman's side ; third, great ditto 
on the man's side; fourth, great inequality of rank, and 
fifth, diversity of color. The latter excites horror." 

May 22 

This day the following gentlemen, members of the 
General Assembly then sitting in Philadelphia, dined with 
me, namely: the Rev. Dr. Dwight, Dr. Davidson, Dr. 
Green, Mr. Cathcart, Mr. Pincon of Connecticut, Mr. Huff 
of Vermont, Mr. Romaine of New York, and Samuel 
Bayard and John Creigh. They were excellent company. 



A Memorial 195 

1809 

They walked in the garden after dinner and admired it. 
I remarked upon what they said, Deus nohit haec otia 
fecit, and that this was not the Babylon I had built, I 
owed it wholly to the goodness of God. 

June 5 

This day died of an apoplexy succeeded by a palsy 
induced six days before at night, Dr. James Woodhouse, 
Professor of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. 
He was a neat experimenter but was averse from prin- 
ciples in chemistry. A person of genius who heard several 
of his lectures said he was a mere factotum, meaning that 
his lectures contained nothing but facts. He was an open 
and rude infidel and often offended or shocked by his 
abuse of Christianity, he even threw out at times insinu- 
ations against it in his lectures. His opinions and con- 
duct were regulated by Rochefoucault's maxims. His 
manners were gross and vulgar. He was my pupil and 
assisted me in my labors in 1793, in consequence of which 
I procured him by my influence his Professorship. He 
was not only ungrateful but he united with my enemies 
and became the most indecent among them. I never 
resented his behavior but always treated him with civility. 
He was attached to no human being, spoke ill of every- 
body and lived at variance with his own relations. He was 
intemperate for several years before he died. I attended 
him in his last illness. Before the attack of apoplexy he 
was sensible but unable to speak. Though a medical pro- 
fessor he scouted the utility of medicine upon all occa- 
sions. 

June 8 

Thursday. Thomas Paine died at New York. He 
was the author of "Common Sense," "Rights of Man," 
"Age of Reason," and many other political and Deistical 
publications. I knew him well soon after his arrival in 
America in 1773, at which time he was unfriendly to the 



196 Benjamin Rush 

1809 

claims of America. He wrote his "Common Sense" at 
my request. I gave it it's name. He possessed a wonder- 
ful talent of writing to the tempers and feelings of the 
public. His compositions though full of original and 
splendid imagery were always adapted to common capaci- 
ties. He was intemperate and otherwise debauched in 
private life. His vanity appeared in everything he did 
or said. He once said "He was at a loss to know whether 
he was made for the times or the times made for him." 
His "Age of Reason" probably perverted more persons 
from the Christian faith than any book that ever was 
written for the same purpose. Its extensive mischief was 
owing to the popular, perspicuous and witty style in 
which it was written and to its constant appeals to the 
feelings and tempers of his readers. 

DEATH OF THOMAS PAINE 

From the New York Gazette. 

The celebrated Thomas Paine is no more. — This 
unfortunate being has passed through many a checkered 
scene and felt a sad vicissitude of fortune. — Yet, his life 
and writings have had powerful influence on the strange 
and wonderful events which have distinguished the present 
age, — Though his birth was humble, and his manners were 
ungracious, he had been long noticed by the courtly and 
the great, and long caressed by the splendid and the rich. 
Though his education was scanty and imperfect, such was 
his love of knowledge, and such was his progress in the 
arts of composition, that his manly and persuasive style 
has been imitated and admired by men of literary reputa- 
tion. 

Without the assistance of patrons or of friends, he 
found an easy access to the cabinet of statesmen, and his 
creative spirit has been often revoked from the recesses of 
obscurity, to impart those counsels which have guided the 



A Memorial 197 

1809 

destinies of nations. Such, indeed, was the power of his 
genius, that the encumbrances of fortune were shaken from 
his mind Hke "dew drops from the lion's mane," and the 
portals of fame were opened at his call. — But alas, poor 
human nature ! with the faculties of an angel were connected 
the dispositions of a fiend. — In him was united all the 
splendor with all the self-sufficiency of exalted talents. 
In the pride of his heart, and in the fullness of his own 
importance, he proved a traitor to his Country and his 
God. Abandoned to his corrupt and wayward fancy, he 
endeavored to sap the foundations of public and private 
happiness. A victim to impiety and depraved passions, he 
had the folly and madness to "defy Omnipotence to arms." 
Here finishes his career of glory — and here commenced a 
life of misery and contempt. Here we must drop the veil, 
for there remains nothing but deformity and ruined great- 
ness. — N. Y. Gaz. 

June 8 

This day my wife and daughter Julia set off on their 
journey to Canada to visit my two daughters there. They 
were accompanied by my son James to New York. Began 
this day to copy my notes on Dr. Sydenham and finished 
them on the i6th of the same month. 

June 22 & 24 

Finished the notes on Dr. Cleghorn. Wrote the dedi- 
cations July 13th and 14th. 

June 26 

This evening died in the seventy-sixth year of his 
age my excellent friend and patient Henry Drinker. He 
was a man of uncommon understanding and great suavity 
and correctness of manners. He possessed talents and 
judgment in business which would have qualified him for 



198 Benjamin Rush 

1809 

the office of a Secretary of State. He was an Elder in 
the Society of Friends, by whom he was universally 
esteemed and beloved. His life was peaceable and his 
death equally so. Dear friend, adieu! 

July 7 

This day Colonel Pickering dined with me with J. 
Hopkinson. 

July 10 

This day Dr. John Redman Coxe was elected Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry in the room of Dr. Woodhouse, 
deceased. The Trustees, nineteen in number, voted as 
follows: Dr. Coxe 10 votes; Robert Hare, 7; Dr. 
Sybert, 2. 

July 14 

This day my dear son James Rush embarked for 
Greenock on his way to Edinborough on board the brig 
Isabella, Captain Newcomb. He was accompanied by Dr. 
Thomas Fuller of Beaufort, South Carolina, a nephew of 
Major Butler. 

Aug. 25 

This morning my son Richard set oflf with his brother 
Samuel for Maryland to be married to Miss Murray. 

Sept. 2 

Heard this day of the death of the Rev. Dr. John Hay. 
This clergyman came to Philadelphia about five years ago, 
strongly recommended for piety, zeal and talent. His 
object was to establish a settlement of English emigrants 
in the new lands of Pennsylvania. Upon preaching in all 
the Presbyterian Churches he became known and so popu- 
lar as to draw a number of persons after him, chiefly Eng- 
lish Dissenters, who built a Church for him called the 
Tabernacle, in which he officiated for a year or two much 



A Memorial 199 

1809 

to the satisfaction of his hearers. He was sensible, logical, 
well acquainted with the Scriptures and remarkably per- 
spicuous in all his discourses. His principles were highly 
Calvinistical. I once heard him say from the pulpit, "A 
Christian had no fears of falling from grace, this was 
impossible, he only feared losing the light of God's counte- 
nance." In the height of his popularity as a preacher and a 
saint he attached himself to a rich widow belonging to his 
Church and after obtaining the title to and the possession of 
her estate of $10,000 he seduced her and had a child by her. 
He had a wife and five children nearly all adults at this 
time. To his wife it appeared afterwards he had been 
unkind and even cruel. One of his sons accompanied him 
in the desertion of his family. While living in a state of 
concubinage with the woman he had seduced he rode with 
her and his child by her through the streets of Philadelphia 
regardless alike of public opinion and of the public eye. 
From remorse, or some other cause, he took to drink and 
in about three months destroyed himself by it. He died 
deranged at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, so reduced as 
to be obliged to sell his concubine's paternal plate in order 
to support himself. Alas, the sad effects of wordly enter- 
prises in Ministers of the Gospel, Antinomian principles 
in a Christian. Dr. Hay was destroyed by them. 

Sept. 4 

This day my son Richard returned with his bride. I 
assured her when I received her that I should consider 
her not as an adopted but as my own child. 

Sept. 6 

This day my wife and daughter Julia returned from 
Canada, in travelling fifteen hundred miles by land and 
water they were not once in any real danger nor even 
alarmed with any supposed danger, nor was either indis- 
posed a day during their absence. What cause of grati- 
tude and praise to the Giver of all good. 



200 Benjamin Rush 

1809 

Sept. II : 

This day the Rev. Mr, Jer. Atwater with his wife, 
sister and three children, came to my house on their way 
to Carlisle where Mr. Atwater was about to preside over 
the College. They left us on the 13th, Wednesday. Mr. 
Atwater appeared to be learned, well-read, pious, and 
heartily disposed to enter upon his duties as Principal of 
the College with zeal and disinterestedness. He is now 
thirty-five years of age. Long, long may he live, a bless- 
ing to science, religion and to all the best interests of our 
country ! 

Oct, 8 

This day heard from Dr. Lockrey that Prof. Atwater 
was well pleased with Carlisle and gave great satisfaction 
to the Trustees of the College and the inhabitants of 
Carlisle. Mr. Atwater, in a letter I received from him, 
says he is not in a land of strangers and that he is at home 
at Carlisle. 

Oct. 9 

This day read an account of the arrival of the vessel 
in Greenock in which my son James went a passenger 
on his way to Edinborough, for which I desire to be sin- 
cerely thankful. 

Oct. 15 

This day died of the yellow fever in the thirty-eighth 
year of his age Dr. James Stuart, a native of Virginia, 
educated and graduated in medicine in the University of 
Pennsylvania and a man of respectable talent and con- 
.siderable learning. By great industry and by attention 
to the poor without a single family connection he got into 
business of $3000. a year. In his last illness he was per- 
fectly sensible, appeared to be unwilling only and not 
afraid to die. He made a Will and directed the place and 
manner in which he wished to be buried. I asked him if 



A Memorial 201 

1809 

he would receive the visits of a clergyman. H'e said, "No," 
the very thought of them disgusted him. I asked him 
if he was a believer in the Christian religion. He said 
he was a believer but in God. Here our conversation 
ended. He was attended by a woman who was his mis- 
tress, with whom he had lived secretly for many years. 
Christianity was the aggressor here and the hostility he 
expressed to its Ministers. 

November 

Died Robert Montgomery, aged thirty-eight. He was 
the inheritor of a large estate from his father and grand- 
father, which had been accumulated by the latter by the 
most extraordinary arts of economy and meanness. His 
contracted spirit descended in his family. His grandson 
was expensive in his pleasures but wanted generosity and 
charity. Upon his deathbed he lamented that he had been 
neglected in his education and that no restraint had ever 
been laid upon his inclinations, and on the early death of 
his father and his want of obedience to his mother. He 
left no issue but divided his estate among his relations 
and public institutions. To one of his poor relations, to 
whom he once refused a dollar for market money, he left 
four thousand dollars, perhaps to ease his conscience from 
its reproaches upon that unkind act. 

During November and December was frequently 
visited by Mr. Joseph Roxas, a native of Mexico, a young 
man of uncommon talents and acquirements. He attended 
a course of my lectures and took notes of them. 

1810 

Jany. 20 

This day died aged eighty-seven Benjamin Chew, 
Esq. He had held many offices under the old Proprietary 
Government, all of which he filled with ability and integ- 
rity. His influence in the executive part of the Govern- 
ment during the administration of James Hamilton and 



202 Benjamin Rush 

1810 

John Penn had no bounds. He enjoyed during his whole 
life the most unexampled exemption from domestic afiflic- 
tion. He never lost but one child and left twelve adult 
children behind him, all above thirty years of age, and all 
amiable, dutiful, and affectionately devoted to him. With 
his wife he passed nearly fifty years in uninterrupted con- 
jugal felicity. His last years only were marked with 
disease and pain, in which he discovered great impatience 
and no solicitude about his future state. 

Feby. 3 

This day my son John Rush arrived from New 
Orleans in a state of deep melancholy brought on by kill- 
ing a brother officer in the Navy in a duel between two 
and three years ago, who was his intimate friend. 

Feby. 8 

This morning died Mrs. Providence Kennard, an emi- 
nently pious patient of mine. Upon seeing some of her 
friends whispering at her fireside as she lay in her bed, 
she said, "If you are talking of death and eternity speak 
out, I love the sound of those words." She left an affec- 
tionate husband and eight children behind her. 

April 

During this month prepared nine additional introduc- 
tory and two lectures upon the pleasures of the senses 
and of the mind, for the press, and recomposed a new 
syllabus of my lectures. 

April 7 

This day died Mary Cobb, aged eighty-four, an old 
and faithful domestic of the late Judge Shippen. A year 
or two before her death she said to me, "Doctor, if ever 
I should die Mr. Burd will pay your bill for your attend- 
ance upon me." On her death-bed she complained that 
she was dying in the prime of her life. She left money 
to the amount of Fifteen hundred dollars behind her. 



A Memorial 203 

1810 

April 21 

This day began to read Pringle's works with a refer- 
ence to publishing notes upon them. Finished them in 
a few days and finished Lind on the Diseases of Warm 
Climates. 

May 3 

Read Pringle's works for the same purpose. 
May 4 

Received a visit from Charles Thompson. He told 
me he was in his eighty-first year and enjoyed good health. 
His conversation was sprightly and entertaining. He told 
me he delivered General Washington his commission in 
1774 with his own hand by order of Congress and received 
it from the General when he gave it back to Congress at 
the close of the Revolutionary War. He gave me a 
minute account of the time and manner of his coming to 
America, which was when he was ten years old. He was 
educated at Dr. Allison's school at New London. While 
there he walked to Philadelphia, forty-five miles, to buy 
a set of the Spectator which was read with great pleasure 
by himself and schoolmates. He was induced to trans- 
late the Septuagint in order to relieve his mind from the 
distress felt after the war was over from the feebleness 
of the old Confederation and its incompetency to preserve 
the union of the States. The copy of the Septuagint, he 
said, was obtained in the following manner. He went to 
an auction of books in the year 1766 where one-half the 
Septuagint was exposed to sale. He bought it for six- 
pence or ninepence. The next year he went to the same 
auction room where he bought the remaining half of that 
work for a trifle. He got them neatly bound together 
and afterwards read in it, particularly in the Prophecy of 
Isaiah, which was the first part of the Old Testament he 
translated. He said he had composed a work to show the 
harmony of the four Evangelists at the time of an event 
which was then in the hands of Thomas Dobson. 



204 Benjamin Rush 

1810 

May 4 

This day sent a copy of the third edition of my 
inquiries to John Adams, Esquire, at Petersburg, by Mr. 
Hodge, whom I introduced to him, to be made public in 
Russia in any way he thought proper. 

May 15 

This day saw the Rev. Mr. Hooker at Mr. Ralston's. 
He informed me that his father-in-law, Timothy Edwards, 
had requested him to call upon some of his neighboring 
Ministers in Connecticut and to set apart a certain time 
once a week to pray in confederacy for the conversion of 
Colonel Burr, now a vagabond in Europe. The Colonel 
is nephew to Timothy Edwards and first cousin to Mrs. 
Hooker. This day finished "Pathological Remarks upon 
certain Diseases of the Liver," for Dr. Coxe's Museum, 
and an inquiry into the use of the Thyne's gland for Dr. 
Miller's New York Repository. 

May 17 

This day Dr. Morse, wife and son, the Rev. Mr. 
Hooker and wife of New England and Miss Thomas and 
Miss Beach of South Carolina, dined with me. Mrs. 
Hooker charmed my whole family with her piety, good 
sense and dignified manner. She is one of eleven full 
grown children. No one of the descendants of her grand- 
father sustains the clerical character. 

May 24 

This day I had the pleasure of the company of the 
following members of the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church to dine with me, namely: The Rev. 
Dr. Green, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Reis, Mr. Colhoun, Mr. 
McDowell, Mr. Potts and Mr. Ogden, an Elder of Mr. 
McDowell's Church at Elizabethtown. 



A Memorial 205 

1810 

May 30 

Last night died William Ball in the eighty-first year 
of his age. By great parsimony he accumulated an estate 
of nearly Six hundred thousand dollars, all of which was 
real property, for he had no confidence in bonds nor in 
any of the moneyed institutions of the City. He was so 
avaricious that he denied himself all of the comforts and 
some of the necessaries of life. He refused to receive a 
prescription from his physician unless it were written in 
English that he might obtain its separate ingredients at dif- 
ferent drug stores at the cheapest possible rates and mix 
them himself. He dreaded death and was always oflfended 
if any of his family asked him how he was as it implied that 
he did not look well and of course reminded him of his 
mortality. He had no children. He left his estate to a 
brother's son whom he had adopted, and passed by a sister 
and all her children who had never offended him. 

June 13 

This day the Rev. Mr. Sergeant informed me that 
a young man who attended my lectures about six years 
ago by the name of Lattimer, who had been a Deist, was 
first convinced of the error of his opinions by something 
delivered by me in one of my lectures incidentally. This 
conviction which followed him to the Natches where he 
settled for a while as a physician and from whence he was 
sent as a delegate to Congress, ended finally in his con- 
version and he is now a Minister of the Gospel. 

July 4 

Went with my sons Samuel and William to the banks 
of the Schuylkill four miles from town where we took 
coffee. While it was preparing I visited a woman of 
eighty-one years of age, named Britton, in the neighbor- 
hood. She was the daughter of French parents but born 
in Germany. She had been near sixty years in America, 
during which time she had had thirteen children, ten of 



2o6 Benjamin Rush 

1810 

whom had lived to marry and bear children. Nine of 
them were dead and the surviving one lived three hundred 
miles from her. She had thirteen great grandchildren. 
She had long suffered from a pain in her back which con- 
fined her to her bed. God Almighty, she said, put it into 
her head to use garlic infused in mint water for it. She 
did so and it cured her. 

July 26 

This morning died Mrs. Haw, of the Society of 
Friends. She had been my patient above thirty years. 
She was sensible and had taste and elegance in conver- 
sation. In one of my visits to her she said as I entered 
her room, "Here comes my physician, my friend, my 
opium," alluding by the last epithet she applied to me 
to the relief my medicines gave her. The night before 
she died she expressed a strong hope and faith in her 
Redeemer and said she believed her robes were washed 
and made white in His blood. 

July 28 

This evening was visited by a Christian Turk, a native 
of Jerusalem. He was dressed in the Turkish habit. He 
said Jerusalem contained 17,000 inhabitants. That some 
of the stones of Solomon's Temple were still to be seen 
near where it stood. That 15,000 persons came annually 
to worship at Jerusalem. He described the Garden of 
Gethsemane and Mount Calvary, on the summit of which 
and over the sepulcher of our Saviour were built large 
churches. While travellers have in vain sought for the 
spot in Asia where Man fell, it is pleasing to reflect that 
the place where he was redeemed is known and that both 
nature and art by their monuments which time has not 
been able to deface or destroy bear witness to the truth 
of the history of His crucifixion. 



A Memorial 207 

1810 

August 7 

This day visited the Rev. Dr. Tennent at Abingdon, 
whom I found full of peace and hope on what he sup- 
posed to be his death-bed. On my way home I dined 
with Dr. Rodgers at Dr. Moore's very pleasantly. I called 
to see an old woman of eighty-one years of age, at the 
request of Dr. Moore, near his house, of the name of 
Martha Martin, who knew my father. She told me she 
was born on the next plantation to his at Biberry, and 
that her father used to say of him he would as soon take 
John Rush's word as any other man's bond. 

August ID 

Called upon the Rev. Mr. Sergeant, a Methodist 
Minister, and suggested to him the possibility of estab- 
lishing a Methodist Congregation and Church in the 
Neck, a few miles below the City, where the population 
was thick and where there was no Church of any kind. 
He was much pleased with the proposal and said he would 
immediately lay it before his brethren who were to meet 
that night upon other business. During this month died 
William Falconer, aged eighty-nine, a venerable and 
excellent saint, and an Elder of Dr. Green's Church. He 
died of weakness and old age. I visited him during his 
confinement previously to his death. His conversation 
was sensible, pleasant and full of anecdotes of good and 
great men, particularly of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, whom 
he knew seventy years ago. He considered the smallest 
benefits mercies. 

October 2 

Charles Thompson dinc^ with me. He was in his 
eighty-first year. He was animated, cheerful and full of 
anecdote. He said he lived between four and five years 
as a scholar in the house of the Rev. Dr. Allison when a 
young man. That he never saw him smile nor in a good 
humor during that time. That Dr. Allison once asked 



2o8 Benjamin Rush 

1810 

him what were the decrees of God. That he answered he 
did not know. "What," said the Doctor, "you do not 
know your catechism?" "No," said Mr. Thompson, "I do 
not." When Mr. Thompson is asked what sect he is of, 
he answers, "Of none, I am a Christian. I believe only 
in the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ, my Saviour." He 
was once a Presbyterian and worshipped in Market Street, 
but left that Society in consequence of discovering a 
malignant and unforgiving temper in Dr. Ewing. He 
said he had supped with old Edward Shippen in the room 
in which we dined in 1750, sixty years before. 

Oct. 7 

Died this day Mrs. Mary Watson, a most accom- 
plished schoolmistress. She was dignified and correct in 
her manner, feared, respected and beloved by her scholars, 
and eminently qualified for her station. The whole City 
lamented her premature death. 

1811 

August 26 

At one o'clock this morning died of a broken heart 
my excellent friend, Thomas Fitzimmons, Esquire, in the 
seventieth year of his age. Few such men have lived 
or died. From an obscure mechanic he became not only 
one of the most enlightened and intelligent merchants in 
the United States but a correct English scholar and a man 
of extensive reading upon all subjects. He filled many 
important statjons both in the general and State Govern- 
ments with great reputation during the Revolutionary 
War. His opinions upon all questions connected with 
the commerce of our country were always regarded with 
respect and even homage by his fellow-citizens. In pri- 
vate life he was truly amiable; hundreds owe their estab- 
lishment in various occupations in business to his advice 
and good offices. His friendship was steady, sincere and 
disinterested. He had firmness upon all occasions except 



A Memorial 209 

1811 

one, and that was when his friends solicited favors from 
him ; from his inability to resist the importunities and 
even the sight of distress he suffered a reverse of fortune 
in the evening of his life. Even in this situation his mind 
retained its native energy and his heart its native good- 
ness, and hence it may be truly said that notwithstanding 
all his many and immense losses he died rich in the 
esteem, affection and gratitude of all classes of his fellow- 
citizens. 

August 27 

This morning died my much valued friend, Joseph 
Clay, Esq., Cashier of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, 
in the forty-second year of his age. This gentleman, by 
early and patient study, laid up a large stock of knowledge 
in all the various branches of science, particularly in 
languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry and 
politics, from which he became not only a useful mem- 
ber of society, but a pleasing and instructive companion 
to a numerous and affectionate circle of friends. In pub- 
lic, no less than in private life, there was a benignity in 
his temper and manners that always delighted and 
charmed. His profound but luminous mind shed light 
upon every subject upon which he spoke. Beloved by 
all who knew him he was particularly dear in his domestic 
connections. Here language fails us. Sighs and tears 
speak the rest. 

"O Death all eloquent you only prove 
What dust we dote on when 'tis man we love." 

In the list of the illustrious men prominent for talents, 
knowledge and public and private virtue in Pennsylvania 
the historian would be unjust who does not give Mr. Clay 
a distinguished rank among them. 

Sept. 2 

This day I received a handsome ring from the 
Emperor of Russia by the hands of William Lynch of 



2IO Benjamin Rush 

1811 

Philadelphia, to whom it was given in charge by J. Q. 
Adams, Minister from the United States to the Court of 
Petersburg. It was presented to me as a mark of the 
satisfaction of the Emperor with my medical works pre- 
sented to him by Mr. J. Q. Adams. 

Sept. 13 

Three packets have arrived from England ; two from 
London in Philadelphia, one in New York from the same 
place, and several from Liverpool, both in New York, 
without bringing me a letter or even a message from my 
son Dr. James Rush and my daughter Mary Manners, 
who were both in London at the time those vessels sailed. 
The distress I have felt in being thus disappointed, neg- 
lected and ungratefully treated by two children upon 
whom I had lavished acts of paternal kindness has been 
to me very great. It has prevented my sleeping and 
impaired my health. Lord, lay not this conduct to their 
charge. 

Oct. II 

This day I received a letter from my son Dr. James 
Rush dated New York October 8th, informing me of his 
arrival there with his sister and her two children, after a 
very tempestuous and dangerous voyage from Bristol of 
eight weeks. Had they perished at sea their family would 
have been ignorant of their fate for many months, for they 
had neglected to inform them of the ship in which they 
had sailed as well as the time of their sailing. Blessed 
be God for their preservation! 

November 

Branch Green informed me that in a school lately 
opened in the Northern Liberties by the Rev. Mr. May, 
consisting of one hundred and twenty children of different 
ages, up to ten years, not more than twenty knew who 
made them. 



A Memorial 211 

1811 

Nov. 23 

This day it was announced in the "National Intelli- 
gencer" that my son Richard Rush was appointed Comp- 
troller of the United States, and to my great astonishment 
and distress on November 25th he set off for Washington 
to accept of it. I dissuaded him from doing so from the 
following considerations: First. The degradation to 
which such an office exposed a man of literary and pro- 
fessional talents. It was an office that could be filled 
by any clerk of a bank. Second. The vexations and pov- 
erty of political life. Third. His comfortable establish- 
ment and excellent prospects in Pennsylvania, the State of 
his ancestors and family. Fourth. The sickliness of 
Washington and the insufficiency of the salary to support 
a growing family. Fifth. The dishonor which he would 
do to his understanding by such an act. Sixth. My age, 
also my young family, which required his advice now and 
would still more require it after my death. I offered to 
implore him not to accept of the appointment upon my 
knees, but all, all to no purpose. Oh, my son, my son 
Richard, may you never be made to feel in the unkindness 
of a son the misery you have inflicted upon me by this 
rash conduct. He was dissuaded from it by all his friends 
and was blamed for it by most of the citizens of Phila- 
delphia who knew him. 

Dec. 6 

General Henry Lee called upon me and requested me 
to introduce him to two Spanish gentlemen from the 
Caraccas. He informed me that in visiting the western 
parts of Virginia, Rock Ridge County, last Summer, he 
was entertained by a farmer of the name of Campbell who 
had lived thirty years with twenty in the family without 
a single death or birth in it. There were three married 
pairs on his farm, negroes, besides himself and wife, who 
had lived together thirty years without issue. 



212 Benjamin Rush 

1811 

December ii 

This day died of Arthritic fever, aged fifty-nine, Peter 
Browne. He had been my patient about thirty years and 
my sincere friend and advocate under all my medical per- 
secutions. Few men lived or died more beloved in all the 
relations of life. He was patriotic, benevolent, generous 
and charitable, and in the latter part of his life piously 
disposed. I loved him much and most affectionately 
deplored his death. 

Dec. 30 

This day my son and his family set off for Washing- 
ton to enter upon the labor of the humble office he had 
preferred to the respectable and professional office he held 
in Pennsylvania. This day also the awful news of the 
burning of the theatre in Richmond, Virginia, reached 
this City, in which above sixty persons, among whom was 
the Governor of Virginia and many other persons of note, 
perished. It took place on the 26th of this month. 

1812 

February 

This month I received a letter from the President of 
the Imperial Academy of Medicine in Petersburg, inform- 
ing me that I was elected a member of the said Society. 

Feb. 29 

This day I finished my lectures. During the whole 
course it pleased God to give me such a degree of health 
that I did not disappoint my pupils a single day. For the 
last two weeks I lectured twice a day, five days of each 
week. I have reason to believe my pupils were satisfied 
with my lectures. For this favor I desire to be thankful 
to that Being who alone giveth favor in the eyes of men. 

During the Summer of 1812 I employed myself in 
transcribing my lectures and in preparing a volume of 
inquiries &c. on the diseases of the mind, for the press. 



A Memorial 213 

1812 
Oct. 27 

This evening corrected the last proof sheet of my 
Inquiries. I was frequently visited during the month of 
October by Baron von Sach, a Prussian Nobleman, a 
modest, well-informed gentleman. I gave him, at his 
request, two of my pamphlets and a letter in favor of the 
domestic origin of the yellow fever. He was a believer 
in Revelation, and told a pleasant story of Robespierre, 
who on one occasion said the world was made by chance 
and that there was no hell. "But suppose," said someone, 
"there should be a hell made by chance, what then?" 
Robespierre became confused and silent at this question. 

Novr. 28 

This evening died in his chair reading the newspaper 
John Dunlap, aged between sixty and seventy years. 
From small beginnings as a printer he acquired by his 
business, but chiefly by speculation, an estate of perhaps 
three or four hundred thousand dollars. So humble was 
his beginning in life that he slept upon a blanket under 
his counter and ate pepper-pot only bought in the market 
from his inability to purchase a bed or any other food. 
He was a staunch Revolutionary Whig, and active as a 
dragoon in the most perilous stages of the war. In the 
parties which divided his country he was always mod- 
erate, candid and just to both sides. To public institu- 
tions he was liberal, to the poor charitable and to his 
friends kind and aflfectionate. In his family he was less 
amiable and respectable than in society. Towards the 
close of his life he became intemperate so as to fall in the 
streets. He was early and uniformly my friend. 

Dec. 2 

This day died Dr. Magan, in about the seventy-third 
year of his age. He lived many years after the loss of his 
memory from the palsy in good health and even became 
fat. He was esteemed an excellent scholar, a profound 
divine and a good man. 



214 Benjamin Rush 

1812 

Dec. 15 

This day I received Twenty dollars from Mrs. Bravo, 
from Jamaica, for attendance upon her husband who died 
in this City. I did not expect a payment of this bill, hav- 
ing seldom and perhaps never received payment of a bill 
under equal circumstances. Mrs. Bravo was a Jewess. 

1813 

Jany. 23 

Died at his son's, Henry Clymer's, near Trenton, 
George Clymer, Esquire, aged seventy-four. Long my 
patient and friend and from whose company I derived, 
more pleasure and from whose conversation I derived 
more instruction than from any citizen of Philadelphia. 
The following short sketch of his character was published 
by me a few days after his death : 

"Another of the Revolutionary patriots of Pennsyl- 
vania is gone. He has followed to the grave Franklin, 
Morris, Fitzimmons, Reed, Mifflin, Biddle, Wilson, Nixon, 
Cadwalader, Rittenhouse, and others of his distinguished 
colleagues, in the dangers and labours of the years 1774-5-6. 
It will scarcely be necessary to add that the patriot 
alluded to is the late George Clymer. This illustrious 
citizen was admirably qualified for all the stations he 
filled during the war which gave independence to the 
United States, and since its termination by a mind exqui- 
sitely sensible of the blessings of liberty and enlightened 
in the principle of equal and just government by extensive 
reading and habits of deep reflection. All those subjects 
which were connected with national happiness and honour, 
whether they embraced the agriculture, the manufactures, 
the commerce, the fine arts, or the morals of his country 
were alike familiar to him, and his life was devoted to 
their cultivation and improvement. In social life he pos- 
sessed a peculiar talent for instructing and pleasing in 
conversation by the originality of his ideas upon all sub- 



A Memorial 215 

1813 

jects and by the novelty of the dress he gave to such as 
were common. With this talent he united at all times 
the charm of an unassuming and artless manner. There 
was no chasm in the circle of his virtues. In domestic life 
he was as much beloved as a husband and a father as he 
was respected by his country as her benefactor and friend. 
In short, 

' The colors of expression are too faint, 
Let thought describe what thought alone can paint. 
Think what the patriot, sage and man should be 
You've then his character, for such was he. ' " 



2i6 Benjamin Rush 



BENJAMIN RUSH 

Instructions to My Son, James Rush, Upon His Going 
Abroad June, 1809. 

1. Commit yourself and all that you are interested 
in daily to the protection of your Maker, Preserver and 
bountiful Benefactor. Keep a Journal from the day you 
leave Philadelphia in which insert all the physical facts 
you hear in conversation, the companies you go into and 
interesting matters you hear in them, with the names 
of each of them when small and select. The days on 
which you begin a new book or enter upon any new study 
or business. The subjects of sermons, speeches, &c. Avoid 
lodging in houses where there are handsome young ladies. 
Avoid particular attentions &c. where you visit. 

2. Attend public worship. Avoid driving out in large 
companies on Sundays. Attend the Courts, General 
Assembly, and Debating Societies. 

3. Converse on medicine with physicians as much as 
possible; find out what new medicines or new forms of 
old medicines they are in the habit of giving. 

4. Keep in a separate book an account of your expen- 
ditures, contracts, &c. Preserve all your receipts. Also 
finally recollect the saying of Sir John Baynard to his 
son when he set out on his travels: "Remember while 
you are in the world the world sees you." Also the say- 
ing of Israel Pemberton to your father in 1766: "Keep 
older and wiser company than thyself." Also of George 
Dilwyn to B. Chew, Jr., "Remember thou hast a character 
to lose." 



A Memorial 217 



THOUGHTS 

(i.) Dr. Witherspoon says, "All men are found out 
before they die." I deny it. Some men are not found out 
till after death and many will not be fully known till the 
day of Judgment. 

Headings of an Eulogium on Death 

(2.) I. It relieves unhappy and discontented hus- 
bands and wives. 

2. It relieves children of parents who keep them too 
long out of their estates. 

3. It relieves physicians of incurable patients. 

4. It relieves nations of tyrannical Kings and blunder- 
ing Ministers who are so riveted either in force or in 
delusion upon the minds of the people that there is no other 
way of getting rid of them. 

5. It relieves the world of old men who keep the minds 
of men in chains to old prejudices. These men do not die 
half fast enough. Few clergymen, physicians or lawyers 
beyond sixty do any good in the world, on the contrary 
they check innovation and improvement. 

(3.) Guilt, Debt and Bad Health are the greatest evils 
in the world and perhaps the only proper sources of misery. 
They are evil in the order in which they are mentioned. 

(4.) Quakers impose the same restraint upon taste 
which the Roman Catholics impose on sexual appetite. The 
prohibition of music, etc., is like the prohibition of celibacy 
in nunneries and monasteries. 

(5.) How apt we are to mistake means for ends. Gold 
and silver the means of enjoyment become objects of it. 
Dress, the means of warmth becomes the object of pride. 
Eatirig is the means of life not the end. 



2i8 Benjamin Rush 

(6.) Burke's character of a merchant: "Gold is his 
god." "The Exchange is his church. His counting house 
is his altar, an invoice his Bible, and his only trust is in 
his Banker." 

(7.) Many people make good breeding consist as much 
in forms as they do Religion. Manners are mistaken for the 
former as much as ceremonies for the latter. 

(8.) Men who differ, though right in all their opinions, 
from the age or people in and among which they live suffer 
from their singularity just as men do in a city whose 
watches go correctly with the sun while all the other 
watches in the city go with an old and erroneous town 
clock. 

(9.) We never acquire knowledge to direct our conduct 
from history nor biography nor from the experience of other 
people nor even from our own experience unless repeated 
two or three times. 

(10.) If time is tedious in proportion to suffering then 
the pains of hell may well be said to be eternal though only 
temporary. The Marquis of Mirabeau who died of an acute 
and painful disease in his bowels said in his last hours that 
"he endured in a moment the pangs of a thousand years." 

(11.) Hostility is most intense where there is most 
obligation. 

(12.) The pen, the pencil, the chisel and the brush from 
habit partake of the genius that directs them and now and 
then, as it were, involuntarily strike off beauties which were 
not intended by the hand that guided them and which can- 
not be imitated afterwards even by their authors. 

(13.) Change or novelty is so natural to man that he 
rejects even truth after a while and embraces error, only 
because it is new. 



PART III 

A Short History of the Rush Family 
in Pennsylvania 



An Account 

of the 

Descendants 

of 

John and Susanna Rush 

who migrated from 

Oxfordshire, England 

and settled at 

Byberry, Pennsylvania 

in 

1683 

the year after the arrival of 

William Penn 



Copied from an original Mss. in the handwriting of 
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH 



A Memorial 223 



JOHN RUSH 

John Rush commanded a troop of horse in Crom- 
well's Army, and was personally known to him. After the 
war he married Susanna Lucas at Horton in Oxfordshire, 
June 8th, 1648, He embraced the principles of the Quakers 
in 1660, and came to Pennsylvania in 1683 and settled in 
Byberry, 13 miles from Philadelphia. In 1691 he and his 
whole family left the Quakers and became Keithians. In 
1697 they became Baptists. He died at Byberry in 1699, 
aged about 80. His Horseman's sword is in possession of 
Jacob Rush, and his watch in that of General Darke of 
Virginia. 

He had issue as appears by a Record in his own hand- 
writing taken from his family bible, now in the possession 
of Benjamin Rush, A. D. 1869: 

1. Elizabeth born June 16, 1649. 

2. William born July 21, 1652. 

3. Thomas born November 7, 1654, and died in Lon- 

don on the i8th of 4th month, 1676. 

4. John born ist of 3d month, 1660. 

5. Francis born 8th of 2d month, 1662, died childless 

under 30 years of age. 

6. James born 21st of 7th month, 1664, died 21st of ist 

month and was buried at Banbury. 

7. Joseph born 26th of loth month, 1666, died in child- 

hood. 

8. Edward born 27th of 9th month, 1670, died child- 

less under 30 years of age. 

9. Jane born 27th of 12th month, 1673-4. 



224 



Benjamin Rush 



Elizabeth Rush, eldest child of John and Susanna 
Rush, married Richard Collet May 27th, 1680, in London, 
and came with her husband to Pennsylvania, in the same 
ship with William Penn, in 1682. They settled on 500 
acres of land in Byberry, 200 of which are now owned by 
Captain , and 200 by two of their 

grandchildren viz. Elizabeth Messer and Mary Peart. Their 
issue were: — 

1. John. 

2. Mary. 

3. Rachel. 

Rachel Collet, married Benjamin Peart and had is- 



Thomas. 

William. 

Elizabeth. 

Mary. 

Bryan. 



Thomas Peart, eldest son of Benjamin and Rachel 
Peart, had issue : — 



William. 

Edmund. 

John. 

Thomas. 

Bryan, 

Rachel. 

Elizabeth. 

Rachel. 



William Peart, second son of Benjamin and Rachel 
Peart, had issue, seven children. 



A Memorial 225 

Elizabeth Peart, eldest daughter of Benjamin and 
Rachel Peart, married Willard and had issue: — 

1. Mary. 

2. Elizabeth. 

3. Rachel. 

4. Mary. 

5. Jonathan. 

and by her second husband Messer, she had issue : 

1. Thomas, who had issue twelve children, 

and 

2. Ann. 

Bryan Peart, fifth child of Benjamin and Rachel 
Peart, had issue : — 

1. Benjamin. 

2. Rebecca. 

3. Thomas. 



II 

WILLIAM RUSH 

William Rush, the eldest son (second child) of John 
and Susanna Rush. Born 1652, married in England Aure- 
lia , and they had issue : — 

1. Susanna, born 1675. 

2. Elizabeth, born 1677. 

3. James, born 1679. 

Aurelia Rush, wife of William Rush, was buried at 
"Harts on the creek Poquesy" in 1683, and her husband 
William in 1688. In 1786 this ancient cemetery of one acre 
was bequeathed by one of Hart's heirs to the Township of 
Byberry for a burying place for the inhabitants forever. 
In this place James Rush, son of William Rush, is buried. 

The family of Waltons first settled in Byberry and 



226 Benjamin Rush 

gave it the name from the place they had resided in, in 
England. 

Giles Knight and Josiah Ellis said to be the first per- 
sons who went there. 

William Rush^ married a second wife in Pennsyl- 
vania, and had issue by her: — 

1. Sarah, born 1685. 

2. William, born 1687. 

He died at Byberry in 1688, five years after his arrival 
in this country, and was the only son of John Rush who 
lived to be above 30 years of age. 

Susanna RusK, eldest child of William Rush, mar- 
ried John Webster and had issue, 

1. Phoebe, who married William Lockhart. 

2. A son. 

Susanna afterwards married Gilbert, by 

whom she had no issue. 

She had a masculine body and mind. Her last hus- 
band being lazy, she worked her farm of 100 acres with 
her own hands. She used to plow, harrow and reap. The 
first she said was a delightful exercise. 

Elizabeth Rush, second daughter of William Rush, 
married Timothy Stephenson, an Englishman of worthy 
character, by whom she had no issue. Tim Stephenson after- 
wards married Rachel Rush, the widow of his brother-in- 
law, James Rush, by the consent of the Synod of New 
York. They had no issue. Her husband died before her 
and left her his estate in Front Street, Philadelphia, after- 
wards owned by her eldest son John Rush. 

James Rush, eldest son (third child) of William 
Rush. Born 1679, niarried Rachel Peart, daughter of Bryan 
Peart, an Englishman, and brother to Benjamin Peart. 



A Memorial 227 

He was an ingenious, active and worthy man, and so exact 
in business that when he died, which was in the year 1727, 
March i6th, aged forty-eight years and ten months, he did 
not leave a single debt behind him. He owned the farm on 
which he lived and died, and left £300 to each of his chil- 
dren. He was buried in the family grave yard near his 
house, on his headstone are the following lines. 

"I've tried the strength of death at length, 

"And here lie under ground, 
"But I shall rise, above the skies, 

"When the last trump shall sound." 

His issue were : — 

1. John, born 1712. 

2. Elizabeth, born 1714. 

3. William, born 1716. Married Mary Williams and 

had issue 

1. William. 

2. John. 

4. Rachel, born 1718, died in childhood. 

5. Joseph, born 1720, died single. 

6. James, born March 25th, 1723, died single. 

7. Thomas, born 1724, died single. 

8. Ann, married John Ashmead. 

9. Aurelia, died in childhood. 

John Rush, eldest son of James Rush, married Sus. 
Harvey formerly Hall, daughter of Jos. Hall of Tacony, by 
whom he had issue. He was a man of a meek and peace- 
able spirit, and so just in his dealings and intercourse with 
the world, that one of his neighbors once said of him, "that 
more could not be said in favor of a man's integrity, than 
that he was as honest as John Rush." He died July 26th, 
1751, in Philadelphia and was buried in Christ Church 
grave-yard. His widow was buried by his side at her 
request July 3d, 1795. "Let me be buried by his side" (said 



2 28 Benjamin Rush 

she on her death bed) "he was an angel to me while he 
lived." They had issue 

1. James, died at sea of the yellow fever in the 2ist 

year of his age. 

2. Rachel. 

3. Rebecca. 

4. Benjamin. 

5. Jacob, born Nov. 24th, A. D. 1745. 

6. Stephenson, died in childhood. 

7. John. 

Rachel Rush, eldest daughter, second child, of John 
and Susanna Rush, nee Hall, married Angus Boyce, and 
had issue 

I. Malcolm, who died single in his 30th year. 

She afterwards married Joseph Montgomery, and died 
October, 1798, and had issue 

I. John Montgomery. 

Rebecca Rush, second daughter and third child of John 
and Susanna (nee Hall) Rush, married Thomas Stamper, 
and had issue 

1. Joseph, died in his eighth year. 

2. Susanna, died in infancy. 

She afterwards married Wallace, and died 

in 1793. 

Benjamin Rush, second son and fourth child of John 
and Susanna Rush (nee Hall), married Julia Stockton, 
January nth, 1776, and had issue 

1. John, born July 17th, 1777, died August 9, 1837. 

2. Emily, born January ist, 1779. 

3. Richard, born August 29th, 1780. 

4. Susanna, born January 7th, 1782, died in infancy. 

5. Elizabeth, born February 14th, 1783, died in 

infancy. 

6. Mary, born May i6th, 1784. 



A Memorial 229 

James, born March 15th, 1786. 

William, born November 8th, 1787, died in infancy. 

Benjamin, born July 3d, 1789, died in infancy. 

Benjamin, born January i8th, 1791. 

Julia, born November 22nd, 1792. 

Samuel, born August ist, 1795. 

William, born May nth, 1801. 



Jacob Rush, third son and fifth child of John and Sus- 
anna (nee Hall) Rush, married Mary Rench in the year 
1777, November 17th, and had issue 

I. Rebecca, born January i, 1779. 



Sarah, born January 24, 1781. 
Mary, born January 24, 1783. 
Louissa, born 
Harriet. 



Ann Rush, third daughter and eighth child of James 
and Rachel Rush, married John Ashmead and had issue 

1. William. 

2. John. 

3. Rachel. 

4. Benjamin, died in childhood. 

She afterwards married Potts, and had issue: 

I. James, who married and had issue seven or eight 
children. 

William Ashmead, eldest son of John and Ann Ash- 
mead, married, and had issue : 



John. 

Thomas. 

William. 

James. 

Mary. 

Ann, 



230 Benjamin Rush 

John Ashmead, second son of John and Anne Ash- 
mead, married Mary Mifflin, and had issue: 

1. John, who had several children. 

2. Benjamin. 

3. Hannah, died in childhood. 

4. Ann. 

5. William, who had several children. 

6. Joseph, who died single. 

7. Mary. 

8. Thomas, who died in childhood. 

9. Eliza. 

Rachel Ashmead, eldest daughter and third child of 
John and Anne Ashmead, married J. Hood and had issue: 

1. Mary, who married Samuel Boys and had issue: 

five children. 

2. James. 

Elizabeth Rush, eldest daughter and second child of 

James and Rachel Rush, married Edward Carey, and had 
issue : 

1. Elizabeth. 

2. Jesse. 

3. Ezra, who died single. 

4. Ann, who married John Gouge, and had issue: 

1. Edward. 

2. John. 

3. Jesse. 

4. Ezra. 

5. Rachel. 

6. Sarah, who died single. 

Sarah Rush^ third daughter and fourth child of Wil- 
liam Rush, married David Meredith, she lived to be above 
80 years, and left 108 descendants, she had issue: 

I. Susanna, who married a man of the name of Kays 
and had issue seven or eight children. 



A Memorial 231 

2. David, married Garret, issue, ten children. 

3. Rebecca, married Mr, J. Jinkins, issue ten children. 

4. William, married Loyd, issue ten children. 

5. Rachel, married Connelly, issue four chil- 

dren. 

6. Joseph. 

7. John, niarried Cloyd, issue six children. 

8. Mary, married Bean, issue eight children. 

9. Hanna, married Guest, issue six children. 
Also several other children that died in infancy. 

William Rush, second and youngest son of William 
Rush, married Elizabeth Hodges, March ist, A. D. 1711-12, 
at the house of his half brother, James Rush, by a Quaker 
meeting, and had issue : 

1. Mary, who married George Irvine and had issue: 

1. Elizabeth. 

2. James, now General Irvine. 

3. Susanna, who died single. 

4. Mary, who died single. 

2. William, 

3. Joseph. 

4. Elizabeth, who died in infancy. 

5. Elizabeth, who died single. 

6. Francis, who died in infancy. 

William Rush, second and eldest son of William Rush 
the second and Elizabeth Rush, married Esther Carlisle, 
and had issue: 

1. John, who died in infancy. 

2. Joseph, who died in infancy. 

3. William, who died single, 

4. John, who died in infancy. 

5. Elizabeth, who married R. Bethell, and had issue: 

1. William. 

2. Robert. 

3. Frances. 



232 Benjamin Rush 

6. Hannah, who died in infancy. 

He afterwards married Frances De and 

had issue: 

1. Abraham, who died in infancy. 

2. Francis, who died in infancy. 

3. Joseph, who married Sally Massey in S. 

Carolina. 

4. Sarah, who married Joseph Kerr, and had 
issue — five children. 



Joseph Rush, the third and youngest son of William 
Rush the second, married Rebecca Lincorn, and had issue: 



Elizabeth. 

William, who had eight children. 

Mary, who died in childhood. 

Abraham, who died in childhood. 

Catherine. 

Joseph, who died single. 

Susanna. 

George, who died in childhood. 



He afterwards married Elizabeth Hilton, by whom 
he had issue : 



Esther, who died in childhood. 

Rebecca, who died in childhood. 

Benjamin. 

Esther. 

Sarah, who died in childhood. 

James, Irvine. 



He was a sensible and ingenious man and excelled in 
his business as a ship-carpenter. He died in 1798, near 80 
years of age. He bore an excellent character. 



A Memorial 233 

III 

SUSANNA RUSH 

Susannah Rush, second daughter of John and Sus: 
Rush, married John Hart in England. He was born at 
Whitney in Oxfordshire, November i6th, 165 1. He was a 
member of the First Assembly called by William Penn in 
A. D. 1683. He was educated a Quaker, but became a 
Keithian in A. D. 1691, and a Baptist preacher in A. D. 
1697. He took up a large body of land at Byberry, and 
left a large estate to his family. He was a man of great 
piety. His last words on his death bed were "Now I know 
that Christ died for me in particular," He had issue: 

1. John. 

2. Joseph. 

3. Thomas. 

4. Josiah. 

5. Mary. 

These married into the Crispin, Miles, Paulin and 
Dungan families, from whence have descended a numerous 
issue in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery Counties. 



IV 



JOHN RUSH 

John Rush, third son of John and Sus: Rush, died 
under thirty years of age, he had issue : 

1. John. 

2. Thomas. 



234 Benjamin Rush 



John Rush, eldest son of the 


above 


John Rush, 


mar- 


ried Sarah and had issue: 






I. Mary. 








2. John. 








3. Wilham. 








4. Joseph. 








5. Sarah. 








6, Benjamin. 








His eldest daughter married 


a man 


of the name of 


Norwood, whose descendants are 


now in 


Dublin. 





Joseph Rush^ third son of John and Sarah Rush, mar- 
ried and had issue: 

1. Sarah. 

2. Hannah. 

3. James. 

4. Benjamin. 

And two or three others. 

Thomas Rush, younger son of John Rush, married and 
had issue: 

1. John, who died single. 

2. Thomas, who died in childhood. 

3. Mary, who died in childhood. 

4. Elizabeth, who died in childhood. 

5. Esther, who died in childhood. 

6. Rebecca, who married J. English, and had issue 

several children. 
He lived to be eighty-four years of age and died about 
the year 1770. He passed the first fourteen years of his 
life with his grandfather John Rush, and has often related 
anecdotes to Benjamin Rush and others, of the battles, 
skirmishes, etc., of the old captain which he received from 
his own lips. He often mentioned his being well known 
to, and esteemed by Oliver Cromwell, who one day seeing 
his mare come into Camp without him, supposed he had 



A Memorial 235 

been killed, and lamented him by saying, "he had not left 
a better officer behind him." It was from Thomas Rush, 
my brother received the old man's sword. 



V 

JANE RUSH 

Jcine Rush^ youngest daughter of John and Susanna 
Rush, married John Darke, son of Thomas, and had issue: 

1. John, born A. D. 1698. 

2. William, born A. D. 1700. 

3. Joseph, born A. D. 1702. 

4. Thomas, born A. D. 1704, and died at a few weeks 

old. 

5. Samuel, born A. D. 1706. 

6. Mary, born A. D. 1709. 

William Darke, second son of John and Jane Darke, 
had issue: 

1. John. 

2. Ann, who married Captain Sage, and had issue: 

1. Esther, who died single. 

2. Rachel. 

Joseph Darke, third son of John and Jane Darke, had 
issue : 

1. Jane, born May 9th, A. D. 1734. 

2. William, now General Darke, born May 6th, A. D. 

f\ ^ 1736. 

^ "^ 3. John, born March loth, A. D. 1741. 

4. Joseph, born September 20th, 1744. 

5. Martha, born September 17th, 1750. 



236 Benjamin Rush 



Samuel Darke, fifth son of Jno. and Jane Darke, had 


issue : 




I. 


Sarah. 


2. 


Jane. 


3. 


Samuel. 


4- 


Mary. 


5- 


Lydia. 


6. 


Thomas. 


7- 


William. 



Mary Darke, sixth and youngest child of John and 
Jane Darke, married, and had issue: 

1. Elizabeth, born A. D. 1734, who had four children. 

2. John, born A. D. 1736, who died in infancy. 

3. Edward, born A. D. 1738, who had five children. 

4. Robert, born A. D. 1740, who was killed by the 

Indians, and had seven children. 

5. William, born A. D. 1742, who had eleven chil- 

dren. 

The foregoing table of the Genealogy, &c., was copied 
from entries, all in the handwriting of Dr. James Rush, 
made on the blank leaves of an old Bible formerly in the 
possession of Dr. James Rush, who died May 26th, A. D. 
1869. 



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1^1 



A Brief Account 

of the 

Ancestors and Descendants 

of 

BENJAMIN RUSH, M. D. 

of the 

City of Philadelphia 



Compiled from family records and his own personal knowledge 
by his Son-in-Law 



HENRY J. WILLIAMS 



A. D. 1869 



A Memorial 239 



JOHN RUSH 

John Rush, commander of a Troop of Horse in Oliver 
Cromwell's Army, was married to Susannah Lucas at 
Horton in Oxfordshire, England. He came to Pennsyl- 
vania in A. D. 1683 and settled at Byberry, about thirteen 
miles from Philadelphia, where he died A. D. 1699, aged 
about eighty years. 

Their eldest son and second child was 

WILLIAM RUSH 

born on the twenty-first day of July, A. D. 1652. Mar- 
ried Aurelia , and died at Byberry, A. D. 1688. 
Their eldest son and third child was 

JAMES RUSH 

born A. D. 1679. Married Rachel Peart and died at 
Byberry on the sixteenth of March, A. D. 1727, aged forty- 
eight years. 

Their eldest son and first child was 

JOHN RUSH 

born A. D. 1712. Married Susanna Harvey, a widow, 
daughter of Joseph Hall of Tacony, on the Delaware River. 
Died July 26th, A. D. 1751, in Philadelphia, and was buried 
in the ground of Christ Church, southeast corner of Fifth 
and Arch streets, where his headstone still stands. His 
widow afterwards married a man named Morris, by whom 
she had no children. She died on the second of July, A. D. 
1795, and was buried in Christ Church burying ground, 
corner of Fifth and Arch streets, where her tombstone is 
still in good preservation. 



240 Benjamin Rush 

The eldest son, who left issue (third child) of John 
and Susanna Rush was 



BENJAMIN RUSH, M. D. 

born at Byberry, then in the county, now in the City of 
Philadelphia, on the twenty-fourth of December, A. D. 
1745, and was married on the eleventh of January, A. D. 
1776, by the Rev. John Witherspoon, at "Morven," the seat 
of her father near Princeton, New Jersey, to Julia Stock- 
ton, eldest daughter of the Honorable Richard Stockton, 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and 
of Mrs. Annis Stockton (nee Boudinot), his wife. 

Dr. Benjamin Rush died in Philadelphia on the nine- 
teenth day of April, A. D. 1813, and was buried in the 
ground of Christ Church, at the southeast corner of Fifth 
and Arch streets. He was a Medical Professor in the 
University of Pennsylvania and greatly distinguished as 
a teacher and practitioner of medicine and as an author on 
various subjects. He was an accomplished scholar, an 
eminent statesman, a warm advocate for universal free- 
dom. Surgeon General in the American Army, a member 
of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, and above all a humble and devout 
Christian. 

Mrs. Julia Rush, wife of Dr. Benjamin Rush and eldest 
daughter of the Honorable Richard Stockton of Princeton, 
New Jersey, was born at "Morven," the seat of her father, 
on the second of March, A. D. 1759, and died at her little 
farm called "Sydenham," now Fifteenth street and Colum- 
bia avenue in the City of Philadelphia, on the seventh 
of July, A. D. 1848. She was buried in the grave of her 
husband, in Christ Church burying ground, southeast cor- 
ner of Fifth and Arch streets. 



A Memorial 241 

Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush had issue : 

I St. John Rush, born in Cecil County, Maryland, at the 
house of Elihu Hall, Esquire, on the seventeenth 
of July, A. D. 1777. Served as an officer in the 
Navy of the United States of America, and died 
unmarried, at Philadelphia, on the ninth of 
August, A. D. 1837. He was buried near his 
father in Christ Church burying ground. 

2d. Anne Emily Rush, born at Philadelphia, on the first 
of January, A. D. 1779. Married, had issue, and 
died at Montreal, Lower Canada, on the twenty- 
seventh day of April, A. D. 1850. 

3d. Richard Rush, born at Philadelphia on the twenty- 
ninth of August, A. D. 1780. Married, had issue, 
and died at Philadelphia on the twenty-eighth of 
July, A. D. 1859. 

4th. Susanna Rush, born at Philadelphia on the seventh 
of January, A. D. 1782, and died on the twenty- 
seventh of May, A. D. 1782. 

5th. Elizabeth Rush, born at Philadelphia on the four- 
teenth of February, A. D. 1783, and died on the 
second of July, A. D. 1783. 

6th. Mary Rush, born at Philadelphia on the sixteenth of 
May, A. D. 1784. Married, had issue, and died in 
England on the second of November, A. D. 1849. 

7th. James Rush, born at Philadelphia on the fifteenth of 
March, A. D. 1786. Married, and died without 
issue on the twenty-sixth of May, A. D. 1869. 

8th. William Rush, born at Philadelphia on the eighth of 
November, A. D. 1787, and died on the fifteenth 
of January, A. D. 1788. 



242 Benjamin Rush 

9th. Benjamin Rush, born at Philadelphia on the third of 
July, A. D. 1789, and died on the twenty-first of 
July, A. D. 1789. 

loth. Benjamin Rush^ born at Philadelphia on the eigh- 
teenth of February, A. D. 1791, died unmarried at 
New Orleans on the seventeenth of December, 
A. D. 1824, and was buried in the cemetery of 
the Protestant Church in that city. 

nth. Julia Rush, born at Philadelphia on the twenty- 
second of November, A. D. 1792. Married and 
died without issue on the nineteenth of April, A. 
D. i860. 

I2th. Samuel Rush, born at Philadelphia on the first of 
August, A. D. 1795. Married, had issue, and died 
on the twenty-fourth of November, A. D. 1859. 

13th. William Rush, born at Philadelphia on the eleventh 
of May, A. D. 1801. Married, had issue, and died 
on the twentieth of November, A. D. 1864. 



ANNE EMILY RUSH 

Anne Emily Rush, eldest daughter and second child of 
Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush, was born at Philadel- 
phia on the first day of January, A. D. 1779. Married on 
the twelfth day of March, A. D. 1799, by the Revd. Wil- 
liam White, to the Honorable Ross Cuthbert'of the Seig- 
niory of Lanoraie on the River St. Lawrence, near Berth- 
ier. Lower Canada, and died on the twenty-seventh day of 
April, A. D. 1850, at Montreal, Lower Canada, where she 
had gone on a visit. She was buried in the vault of the 



A Memorial 243 

Family Chapel at Berthier. The Honorable Ross Cuth- 
bert survived his wife, and died at the Manor House of 
Lanoraie on the twenty-eighth day of August, A. D. i860. 
He was buried by his wife's side in the vault of the Family 
Chapel, but both he and his wife were subsequently 
removed to the cemetery of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church at Sorel. They had issue: 

1st. James Cuthbert, born at Lanoraie, L. C, on the sev- 
enth of January, A. D. 1800, and died there on the 
thirtieth of March, A. D. 1842. 

2d. Julia Cuthbert, born at Lanoraie, L. C, on the second 
of October, A. D. 1801, and died there on the 
eleventh of February, A. D. 1802. 

3d. Georgina Cuthbert, born on the seventh of July, A. D. 
1803. 

4th. Mary Cuthbert, born on the twenty-fifth day of Feb- 
ruary, A. D. 1810. 

I. James Cuthbert, eldest child and only son of the Hon- 
orable Ross and Mrs. Emily Cuthbert, was born 
on the seventh day of January, A. D. 1800, at 
Philadelphia. Married Miss Jane Stephens, eldest 
daughter of Mr. Henry and Mrs. Stephens, of 
London, England, on the seventh day of June, 
A. D. 1821, and died at Lanoraie on the thirtieth 
day of March, A. D. 1842, leaving his widow, and 
but one surviving son, Edmund Charles Cuthbert, 
who was born on the tenth day of March, A. D. 
1836, served in the British Army in India, and 
died unmarried on the thirteenth day of Novem- 
ber, A. D. 1864, at Pesth, in Hungary, which he 
had visited while on a tour through Europe, 



244 Benjamin Rush 

James Cuthbert had five children, all of whom 
except Edmund Charles died in infancy. 

1. George Ross Cuthbert, born July 2d, 1821, 

died April loth, 1824. 

2. Henry S. Cuthbert, born January 27th, 

1824, died May 3d, A. D. 1828. 

3. Benjamin Rush Cuthbert, born January 

13th, 1825, died February ist, A. D. 
1826. 

4. James Rush Cuthbert, born January nth, 

1834, died July 19th, A. D. 1834. 

5. Edmund Charles Cuthbert, born March 

loth, A. D. 1836, died November 12th, 
A. D. 1864. 

2. Julia Cuthbert, eldest daughter and second child of the 

Honorable Ross and Mrs. Emily Cuthbert, was 
born on the second day of October, A. D. 1801, 
and died on the nth day of February, A. D. 1802. 

3. Georgina Cuthbert, second daughter and third child of 

the Honorable Ross and Mrs. Emily Cuthbert, 
was born on the seventh day of July, A. D. 1803, 
and on the seventeenth day of June, A. D. 1829, 
married Mr. Augustus David Bostwick of Three 
Rivers, Lower Canada, who died on the seven- 
teenth day of December, A. D. 1837. They had 
issue : 

1. Anne Emily Bostwick, born on the fifth 

of June, A. D. 1830, died on the six- 
teenth of August, A. D. 1831. 

2. John Bostwick, born on the twenty-third 

of July, A. D. 1831. 

3. Mary Bostwick, born on the third of 

March, A. D. 1833. 



A Memorial 245 

4. Georgina Bostwick, born on the fourth of 

October, A. D. 1834. 

5. Charles Ogden Bostwick, who died quite 

young. 

1. Anne Emily Bostwick, eldest daughter and child of 

Mr. Augustus David and Mrs. Georgina Bostwick, 
was born on the fifth day of June, A. D. 1830, and 
died on the sixteenth day of August, A. D. 1831. 

2. John Bostwick, second child and eldest son of Mr. 

Augustus David and Mrs. Georgina Bostwick, 
was born on the twenty-third day of July, A. D. 
183 1, and married on the twenty-fourth day of 
October, A. D. i860, Miss Elisabeth Lloyd Mer- 
rick, youngest daughter of Mr. William and Mrs. 
Martha Merrick. They had two children : 

1. Georgina Martha Bostwick, born the 

twenty-fourth day of October, A. D. 
1861. 

2. Mary Cuthbert Bostwick, born the twelfth 

day of August, A. D. 1863. 

3. Mary Bostwick, second daughter and third child of Mr. 

Augustus David and Mrs. Georgina Bostwick, was 
born on the third day of March, A. D. 1833, and 
married on the first day of December, A. D. 1853, 
Mr. Edward Octavian Cuthbert. They have had 
issue : 

1. Emily Louisa Georgina Cuthbert, born on 

the twenty-eighth day of September, 
A. D. 1854, died on the fifteenth day 
of January, A. D. 1855. 

2. James Augustus Alfred Octavian Cuth- 

bert, born the twenty-ninth day of 
May, A. D. 1856. 



246 Benjamin Rush 

3. Mary Frances Eliza Cuthbert, born on the 

second of June, A. D. 1859, died on 
the fourth day of April, A. D, i860. 

4. Albert Edward Ross Cuthbert, born on 

the thirty-first day of July, A. D. 
i860. 

5. Jane Cuthbert, born June the tenth, A, D. 

1867. 

6. Julia Rush Cuthbert, born on the tenth 

day of June, A. D. 1867. 

4. Georgina Bostwick, third daughter and fourth child of 
Mr. Augustus David and Mrs. Georgina Bost- 
wick, was born on the fourth day of October, 
A. D. 1834, and married on the ninth day of July, 
A. D. 1855, Mr. James William Hanson. They 
have no children. 

Mrs. Georgina Bostwick, widow of Mr. Augustus 
David Bostwick, married on the tenth day of June, A. D. 
1851, Edward Adams Clark, Esq. They have no children. 

4. Mary Cuthbert, third daughter and fourth child of the 
Honorable Ross and Mrs. Emily Cuthbert, was 
born on the twenty-fifth day of February, A. D. 
1810. 



II 

RICHARD RUSH 

Richard Rush, second son and third child of Dr. Benja- 
min and Mrs. Julia Rush, was born in Philadelphia on the 
twenty-ninth day of August, A. D. 1780, and was married 
on the twenty-ninth day of August, A. D. 1809, by the 
Rev. Dr. Judd to Catherine E. Murray, daughter of Dr. 



A Memorial 247 

James and Mrs. Sarah E. Murray then of Piney Grove, but 
formerly of Annapolis, Maryland. He died at his house in 
South Eighth street below Locust street, Philadelphia, on 
the thirtieth day of July, A. D. 1859, and was buried in his 
family vault in North Laurel Hill Cemetery in the City of 
Philadelphia. 

He had been made Attorney General of the United 
States by President James Madison, and afterward 
appointed acting Secretary of State. In A. D, 1817, he 
was sent as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. 
James, where he remained nearly eight years, when he was 
recalled by President John Quincy Adams to fill the office 
of Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, subse- 
quently he went again to England to collect and receive 
the Smithsonian Legacy, and after some interval was 
appointed Minister to France. After his return to this 
country he spent the latter years of his life either at Syden- 
ham, his country seat, formerly in the county (but now 
Fifteenth street and Columbia avenue in the City of Phila- 
delphia) of Philadelphia, or at his house in South Eighth 
street below Locust street. 

His wife, Mrs. Catherine E. Rush, died at "Sydenham," 
her husband's country seat, on the twenty-fourth day of 
March, A. D. 1854, and was buried in his family vault in 
North Laurel Hill Cemetery. 

Richard and Catherine E. Rush had issue: 

A. I St. Benjamin Rush, born in Philadelphia on the 

twenty-third of January, A. D. 181 1, married and 
had issue. Died June 30, 1877. 

B. 2d. James Murray Rush, born in Washington, D. C, 

on the tenth of July, A. D. 1813, married, had 
issue, and died on the seventh of February, A. D. 
1862. 



248 Benjamin Rush 

3d. Richard Rush, born in Washington, D. C, on the 
eleventh day of March, A. D. 1815, died at Wash- 
ington, D. C, on the twenty-ninth day of October, 
A. D. 1826, and was buried at "Kalorama," the 
seat of Col. Bomford, U. S. Army, near that city. 

4th. Sarah Maynadier Rush, born in Annapolis the 
seventeenth day of September, A. D. 1817, died in 
London on the nineteenth of April, A. D. 1819, 
and was buried in the vault of the Episcopal 
Church of Marylebone in London. 

5th. Julia Rush^ born in London on the eleventh of 
November, A. D. 1818, and died in London on the 
thirtieth of June, A. D. 1822. She was buried by 
the side of her little sister Sarah, in the vault of 
the Episcopal Church at Marylebone, London. 

C. 6th. Anna Maria Rush, born in London on the twenty- 

third of April, A. D. 1820, and died unmarried on 
the 25th of December, 1887. 

D. 7th. Madison Rush, born in London on the twenty- 

eighth of July, A. D. 1821, married and died with- 
out having had issue on the twentieth day of July, 
A. D. 1856. 

E. 8th. Sarah Catherine Rush, born in London on the 

twenty-ninth day of June, A. D. 1823, and died 
July 17th, 1905, unmarried. 

F. 9th. Richard Henry Rush, born in London on the four- 

teenth day of January, A. D. 1825, married, had 
issue, and died on the seventeenth of October, 1893. 

G. loth. Julia Stockton Rush, born at Washington, D. C, 

on the twenty-first of July, A. D. 1826, married, 
had issue, and died at Washington, D. C, on the 
twentieth of January, A. D. 1S58. 



A Memorial 249 

A. 1st. Benjamin Rush, eldest son and first child of 

Richard and Catherine E. Rush, was born in 
Philadelphia on the twenty-third of January, A. 
D. 181 1, and was married on the twenty-fourth 
of April, A. D. 1849, to Elizabeth M. Simpson, 
daughter of Dr. William Simpson, of Pittsburg, 
Penna., and Mary Theresa de Belen, his wife. 
Died June 30, 1877, in London, England. They 
had issue: 

1. William Simpson Rush, born in Phila- 

delphia on the twenty-eighth of 
January, A. D. 1851, and died 
unmarried at Dresden, Germany 
(where his father and family had 
been spending some time), on the 
second of June, A. D. 1869. His 
remains were sent home to be buried 
in the family vault of his father in 
North Laurel Hill Cemetery in the 
City of Philadelphia. 

2. Catherine Elisa Murray Rush, born on the 

twenty-first of December, A. D. 1853, 
married William Masters Camac 
April 24th, 1895. 

3. Mary Theresa de Belen Rush, born the 

eleventh of February, A. D. 1855. 
Married Rev. Richard Lewis Howell, 
April 30, 1889, and died May 24, 1903, 
and had issue : 

Richard Lewis Howell, Jr., born Feb- 
ruary 14, 1891, died May 2, 1891. 

B. 2d. James Murray Rush, second son and second child 

of Richard and Catherine E. Rush, was born on 
the tenth of July, A. D. 1813, at Washington, D. C. 



250 Benjamin Rush 

He married Eugenia Frances Sheaff, the widow of 
William Sheaff, and daughter of John and Maria 
Hiester of Reading, Penna., on the twenty-eighth 
of January, A. D. 1847. His wife, Eugenia, from 
her previous marriage had two daughters, both of 
whom are married. She died at "Sydenham," the 
residence of her husband's father, then in the 
county (now in the city) of Philadelphia, on the 
third of December, A. D. 1849, and was buried 
with her father and mother at Reading, Penna. 

J. Murray and Eugenia Rush had issue, one 
son: 

Richard Rush, born on the twenty-eighth of 
February, A. D. 1848, and now (A. D. 
1906) an officer in the Navy of the United 
States of America. Retired with the rank 
of Captain. Married, July 10, 1873, Ella 
Mary Day, second daughter of Edgar 
Burr Day, of Catskill-on-Hudson, and 
Sophia Augusta Camp, of Sacketts Har- 
bor, New York, and has had issue: 

Richard Rush, Junior, born Septem- 
ber 28th, 1875, ^t Philadelphia, 
and died November 21st, 1875, at 
Catskill-on-Hudson, New York, 
of pneumonia. 

Ella Day Rush, Junior, born Novem- 
ber 1st, 1876, at Philadelphia. 
Married September 23d, 1905, at 
Catskill-on-Hudson, New York, 
William Spencer Murray, of An- 
napolis, Maryland. 

James Murray Rush, afterwards, on the twenty-ninth 
of November, A. D. 1853, married Elizabeth Upshur Den- 



A Memorial 251 

nis, widow of Lyttleton Dennis (by whom she had no chil- 
dren) and daughter of Lyttleton Upshur Dennis and Sarah 
Robertson, his wife, of Essex, Somerset County, on the 
Eastern Shore of Maryland. She died at the house of her 
husband, on Washington Square, Philadelphia, on the six- 
teenth of May, A. D. 1856, and was buried on her family 
estate in Somerset County, Maryland. She left one only 
daughter, Elizabeth Murray Rush, who was born on the 
twenty-sixth of January, A, D. 1856. James Murray Rush 
died at his house in South Eighth street below Locust 
street, in the City of Philadelphia, on the afternoon of 
Friday the seventh of January, A. D. 1862, and was buried 
in his brother's family vault in North Laurel Hill Ceme- 
tery. 

Elisabeth Murray Rush married, April 20, 1882, John 
Biddle Porter, son of Andrew Porter and Margaretta Bid- 
die, and had issue : 

1. Margaretta Biddle Porter, born June 13th, 1883. 

2. Catherine Rush Porter, born January 27th, 1885. 

3. Elizabeth Murray Rush Porter, born September 

3d, 1893. 

C. 3d. Anna Maria Rush, third daughter and sixth child 

of Richard and Catherine E. Rush, was born in 
London, at the house of her father, then Minister 
Plenipotentiary at the Court of London, on the 
twenty-third of April, A. D. 1820, died at Phila- 
delphia 25th of December, 1887. 

D. 4th. Madison Rush, fourth son and seventh child of 

Richard and Catherine E. Rush, was born in Lon- 
don, at the house of his father, then Minister 
Plenipotentiary at the Court of London, on the 
twenty-eighth of July, A. D. 1821, and served for 
many years as an officer in the Navy of the United 
States of America, but resigned his commission 



252 Benjamin Rush 

upon his marriage. He married on the twentieth 
of February, A. D. 1855, Maria Blight, daughter 
of George and Maria Blight of the City of Phila- 
delphia. His wife died in Philadelphia without 
issue on the third of November, A. D. 1855, and 
was buried in the ground of the Episcopal Church 
of St. James the Less, near the Falls of Schuylkill 
in the City of Philadelphia. Her husband, Madi- 
son Rush, was drowned while bathing in the Red 
Lake River in Minnesota, and was buried by the 
side of his wife in the ground of St. James the 
Less on the twenty-first of November, A. D, 1855, 
the same year, his body having been recovered 
and brought home. 

E. 5th, Sarah Catherine Rush, fourth daughter and 

eighth child of Richard and Catherine E. Rush, 
was born in London at the house of her father, 
then Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of St. 
James, on the twenty-ninth of June, A. D. 1823, 
and died July 17th, 1905. 

F. 6th. Richard Henry Rush, fifth son and ninth child of 

Richard and Catherine E. Rush, was born in Lon- 
don at the house of his father, then Minister 
Plenipotentiary at the Court of St. James, on the 
fourteenth day of January, A. D. 1825, and was 
married on the fourth day of February, A. D. 1851, 
to Sarah Anne Blight, daughter of George and 
Maria Blight, of the City of Philadelphia. His 
wife died at Newport, Rhode Island, on the eighth 
of August, A. D. 1852, and was buried in the vault 
of her father in St. Stephen's Church yard. South 
Tenth street above Chestnut street, in the City of 
Philadelphia. She left one only son, Murray 
Rush^ who was born on the twentieth day of Octo- 
ber, A. D. 185 1. 



A Memorial 253 

Murray Rush, son of Richard Henry Rush and Sarah 
Anne Blight, married January 14th, 1876, at Christ Church, 
Baltimore, Louisa Bowdoin, and has issue : 

1. Murray Blight Rush, born in Baltimore February 

9, ^^77- 

2. Arthur Temple Rush, born in Philadelphia January 

II, 1879, married May 17th, 1904, Ayliffe M. 
Borie. 

3. Louis Harold Rush, born at Rye Beach, N. H., 

August 23d, 1880, 

4. Alice Bowdoin Rush, born at Radnor, Pa., March 

30th, 1884. 

Arthur Temple Rush, second son of Murray Rush mar- 
ried Ayliffe M. Borie, daughter of John Borie and Susan 
Halsey, and has issue : 

Richard Rush 2d, born February 25th, 1905. 
Richard Henry Rush afterwards, on the eleventh of 
December, A. D. 1856, married Susan Bowdoin Yerby, 
daughter of Dr. George Y. and Charlotte H. Yerby, of 
"Selma," Northampton County, Virginia, and died October 
17th, 1893. 

Richard H. and Susan B. Rush have had issue: 
I. Richard Henry Rush, born the fifteenth of Sep- 
tember, A. D. 1857, and died on the third day 
of July, A. D. 1858. 
Madison Rush, born on the third of November, 

A. D. 1858, married and has issue. 
Charlotte Graham Rush, born on the twelfth of 
February, A. D. i860, married and has issue. 
Susan Rush, born on the twelfth of July, A. D. 

1861, married and has issue. 
Julia Rush, born on the fifteenth of December, 

A. D. 1863. 
Benjamin Rush_, born November 28th, 1869, mar- 
ried and has issue. 



2 54 Benjamin Rush 

Richard H. Rush was educated at West Point, and 
served a number of years as an officer in the Army of 
the United States of America. He resigned his Commis- 
sion soon after the death of his first wife, but upon the 
breaking out of the Great Southern Rebellion was 
appointed Colonel of a Regiment of Lancers and served 
during that war, in the Union Army. After the overthrow 
of the Confederacy, he again resigned his Commission and 
retired to private life. 

Madison Rush, second son of Richard Henry Rush 
and Susan Bowdoin Yerby, married, October 2, 1884, 
Catharine Parker Costin, born July 12, 1859, died Decem- 
ber 13, 1902. He married a second time, July 6, 1904, 
Caroline Novess, born November 11, 1880. 

Madison Rush and Catharine Parker Costin had issue: 
Catharine Elisabeth Rush, born October 7th, 1885. 
Susan Rush, born August i6th, 1890. 
Julia Stockton Rush, born March 3d. 1897. 

Charlotte Graham Rush, third child and eldest daugh- 
ter of Richard Henry Rush and Susan Bowdoin Yerby, 
married January 27, 1883, Edward Dale Toland, son of 
Robert Toland, of Philadelphia, has issue : 

Edward Dale Toland, born December 11, 1886. 

Priscilla Toland, born September 19, 1888. 

Richard Henry Rush Toland, born September 3, 1891. 

Robert Toland, born April 2, 1895. 

Owen Jones Toland, born January 19, 1897. 

Susan Rush, fourth child and second daughter of 
Richard Henry Rush and Susan Bowdoin Yerby, married 
September 17th, 1887, Cecil Campbell Higgins. They have 
issue: 

Campbell Higgins, born July 23, 1888. 

Celia Campbell Higgins, born April 16, 1890. 



A Memorial 255 

Benjamin Rush, sixth child and third son of Richard 
Henry Rush and Susan Bowdoin Yerby, married June 5th, 
1895, Mary Wheeler Lockwood, and has issue : 

Charlotte Rush, born March 26th, 1896. 
Benjamin Rush, born October 28th, 1898. 
Mary Rush, born January loth, 1900. 
Richard Stockton Rush, born July 14th, 1905. 



G. 7th. Julia Stockton Rush, fifth daughter and tenth and 
youngest child of Richard and Catherine E. Rush, 
was born in Washington, D. C, on the twenty- 
first of July, A. D. 1826, and was married on the 
first of June, A. D. 1854, to John Calvert of Wash- 
ington, D. C, son of Edward Calvert, Esquire, of 
Mount Airy, Prince George's County, Maryland. 
She died in Washington, D. C, January 20, 1858, 
and was buried in the family vault of her father 
in North Laurel Hill Cemetery in the City of 
Philadelphia. Her husband, John Calvert, died at 
his farm in Prince George's County, Maryland, on 
the ninth of March, A. D. 1869, and was buried 
by the side of his wife in a part of the family vault 
of his father-in-law, which had been allotted to 
him. 

John and Julia S. Calvert left issue, two sons. 

I. John Calvert, born the ninth of March, A. D. 1855, 
married October 26, 1881, Victoria Baltzell 
Elliott, second daughter of T. Thomas Elliott 
and Victoria R. Baltzell. They have had issue : 

Cecilius Baltimore Calvert, born Septem- 
ber II, 1882. 



256 Benjamin Rush 

2. Madison Rush Calvert, born the twelfth of January, 
A. D. 1858, married August 4, 1881, Josephine 
R. Wheeler, of New York. Married a second 
time, Margaret Agnes Mahoney, of Ports- 
mouth, N. H. They have had issue : 

Catherine Rush Calvert, born December 
25, 1892, died February 14, 1895. 



Ill 

MARY RUSH 

Mary Rush, fourth daughter and sixth child of Dr. 
Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush, was born in Philadelphia 
on the sixteenth of May, A, D. 1784, and was married at 
Philadelphia on the twenty-ninth of December, A, D. 1809, 
to Captain Thomas Manners, of the Forty-ninth British 
Regiment, by the Right Revd. Bishop William White. She 
followed her husband to Canada and England, where she 
resided the rest of her life, and died at Fort Clarence, near 
Rochester, Kent, England, on the second of November, A. 
D. 1849. She was buried at Gillingham Church about five 
miles from Rochester. Captain Thomas Manners died at 
Cheltenham about the sixth day of March, A. D. 1834, and 
was buried there. 

Captain and Mrs. Manners left issue: 

1. Julia Manners, born at Maiden, Upper Canada, on the 

day of April, A. D. 1805, died November 
26, 1874, in London, England. 

2. Robert Manners, born at Quebec, U. C, on the 

day of June, A. D. 1806. He entered the British 
Army, served for many years, and rose to the 
rank of Captain, he was then appointed Governor 
of the Military Prison at Fort Clarence, near 
Rochester, Kent, England, where he continued to 
reside, when he retired on a pension. 



A Memorial 257 

IV 
JAMES RUSH, M. D. 

James Rush, M. D., third son and seventh child of 
Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. JuHa Rush, was born in Philadel- 
phia on the fifteenth (sixteenth) day of March, A. D. 1786. 
He was married on the nineteenth day of October, A. D. 

1819, by the Right Reverend Bishop William White, to 
Phoebe Ann Ridgway, daughter of Jacob and Rebecca 
Ridgway, of the City of Philadelphia. His wife, Anne, 
was born on the third of December, A. D. 1799, and died 
at Saratoga, New York, on the twenty-third day of Octo- 
ber, A. D. 1857. She was buried in her father's ground in 
North Laurel Hill Cemetery. 

Dr. James Rush died without having had issue, at his 
house No. 1914 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, on the 
twenty-sixth day of May, A. D. 1869, and was buried in 
the grave of his wife, in the ground of his father-in-law, 
Jacob Ridgway, in North Laurel Hill Cemetery. Dr. Rush 
was a successful practitioner of medicine and an author of 
several works. "The Philosophy of the Human Voice," 
one of his productions, has become a standard work and a 
text-book with all teachers and students of elocution. He 
left by his will almost the whole of his immense fortune, 
derived in a great measure from his father-in-law and his 
wife, to found and endow "The Ridgway Branch of the 
Philadelphia Library." 

V 

JULIA RUSH 

Julia Rush, fifth daughter and eleventh child of Dr. 
Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush, was born in Philadelphia 
on the twenty-second day of November, A. D. 1792, and 
was married by the Rt. Reverend William White, Bishop 
of Pennsylvania, on the seventeenth day of June, A. D. 

1820, to Henry J. Williams, son of General Jonathan and 



258 Benjamin Rush 

Mrs. Mariamne Williams (nee Alexander). She died 
without issue in the house of her husband, No. 712 Walnut 
street, in the City of Philadelphia, on the nineteenth of 
April, A. D. i860, and was buried in his family vault in 
North Laurel Hill Cemetery. 

She was a woman of very remarkable personal attrac- 
tions, and her wit and accomplishments were equal to her 
beauty. She united to unusual intelligence and informa- 
tion the sweetest and kindliest disposition and the gentlest 
and most polished manners, she diffused comfort and hap- 
piness throughout her whole household, and when she died 
left it in loneliness and sorrow. 

"During her whole life she was an earnest, active and 
"devoted member of the Episcopal Church, and with all 
"the graces of a thorough cultivation, and the attractions 
"of unusual social powers, she combined a clear view of 
"the way of Mercy thro' the Saviour and a firm grasp of 
"the promises of God in Him. And happy in the love of 
"Him in whom she trusted, happy in the hope of eternal 
"blessedness thro' her Lord, Jesus Christ, there was in her 
"experience almost no shadow of the doubts with which 
"many are disturbed. She was consequently free to enjoy 
"the bounties of God's Providence, the beauties of His 
"works and the rich comforts of His word and spirit, with 
"humble, innocent, and hearty cheerfulness. She did so, 
"and with smiles ever on her lips, with love and joy ever in 
"her heart was the charm of the Christian society in which 
"she moved and of the happy domestic circle she adorned. 

"Her life was truly hid in Christ with God and when 
"its termination came, it found her calmly and confidently 
"reposing, where she had reposed for years, on the 
"undoubted love of her Redeemer. She passed the valley 
"of the shadow of death feeling and saying that 'it was but 
" *a shadow' and rests now in the full brightness of the 
"other side." 

"It is but a shadow" were her own words one day 
before her death, with a perfect knowledge of its near 
approach. 



26o Benjamin Rush 

2d. Julia Williams Rush, eldest daughter and second child 
of Samuel and Anne Rush, was born at Philadel- 
phia on the twenty-eighth of November, A. D. 
1832, and married on the eleventh of October, A. 
D. 1855, to Alexander Biddle (son of Thomas and 
Christine Biddle, nee Williams). They had issue: 

1. Alexander Williams Biddle, born on the Fourth of 

July, A. D. 1856, married Anne McKennan 
July 19, 1879. Has issue. 

2. Henry Rush Biddle, born on the fifteenth of 

March, A. D. 1858, died January 2, 1877, at 
Lanoraie, Chestnut Hill. 

3. Julia Rush Biddle, born on the twenty-fifth of July, 

A. D. 1859, died February 24, 1885. 

4. James Wilmer Biddle^ born on the twenty-second 

of November, A. D. 1861, married Cora Row- 
land. Has issue. 

5. Louis Alexander Biddle, born on the twelfth of 

March, A. D. 1863. 

6. Mariamne Biddle, born on the eighth of Novem- 

ber, A. D. 1865. 

7. Lynford Biddle, born August 26th, 1871. 

Alexander Williams Biddle, eldest son of Alexander 
Biddle and Julia Williams Rush, married Anne McKennan, 
daughter of Judge William McKennan, of Washington, 
Penna., and has issue. 

Pauline Biddle, born August 7, 1880, married John 
Penn Brock, son of Horace Brock of Philadelphia, 
April 24th, 1905. 

Christine Alexander Biddle, born October 20, 1882. 

Julia Rush Biddle, born August 16, 1886. 

Isabel Biddle, born January 16, 1888. 

Alexander Biddle, born April 4, 1893. 



A Memorial 259 

VI 

SAMUEL RUSH 

Samuel Rush, seventh son and twelfth child of Dr. 
Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush, was born in Philadelphia 
on the first of August, A, D. 1795, and died at the house 
of his son-in-law, Col. Alexander Biddle, No. 1626 Walnut 
street, in the City of Philadelphia, November 24, 1859. He 
was buried in the ground of "Christ Church" at the corner 
of Fifth and Arch streets, but was afterwards removed to 
the vault of his brother-in-law, Henry J. Williams, in North 
Laurel Hill Cemetery. He was married at Philadelphia 
by the Reverend Simon Wilmer to Anne Wilmer, daughter 
of James and Anne Wilmer (nee Emerson), on the twelfth 
of August, A. D. 1828. 

They had issue: 

1. James Rush, born on the eighth of May, A. D. 1829, 

and died on the thirtieth of December, A. D. 1831. 

2. Julia Williams Rush, born on the twenty-eighth of 

November, A. D. 1832, died August 8th, 1898, at 
Lanoraie, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. 

3. William Rush, born on the seventh of February, A. D. 

1837, and died on the twentieth of April, A. D. 
i860. 

ist. James Rush, son of Samuel and Anne Rush, was 
born on the eighth of May, A. D. 1829, and died 
on the thirtieth of December, A. D. 1831. He was 
buried in the ground of Christ Church at the 
southeast corner of Fifth and Arch streets, but 
afterwards removed with his father's remains to 
the vault of Henry J. Williams, in North Laurel 
Hill Cemetery. 



A Memorial 261 

James Wilmer Biddle, fourth child and third 
son of Alexander Biddle and Julia Williams Rush, 
married February 4, 1891, Cora Rowland, daughter 
of Howard Rowland, of Philadelphia. Has issue : 

Mariamne Wilmer Biddle, born June 15, 1893. 

Harriet Biddle, born February 4, 1896. 

3d. William Rush, second son and third child of Samuel 
and Anne Rush, was born at Philadelphia on the 
seventh day of February, A. D. 1837, ^"<^ ^^^^ 
unmarried on the twentieth of April, A. D. i860. 
He was buried in the vault of his uncle, Henry J. 
Williams, in North Laurel Hill Cemetery. 



VII 



WILLIAM RUSH, M. D. 

William Rush, M. D., eighth son, thirteenth and 
youngest child of Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Julia Rush, was 
born at Philadelphia on the eleventh of May, A, D. 1801, 
and was married by the Reverend Dr. Delancy on the 
eighteenth day of July, A. D, 1827, to Elizabeth Fox 
Roberts, daughter of Hugh and Sarah Roberts (nee Smith), 
of Piney Grove, in the City and County of Philadelphia. 
He died in Philadelphia on the twentieth of November, 
A. D. 1864, 3^nd was buried in the ground of "Christ 
Church" at the corner of Fifth and Arch streets, in the 
City of Philadelphia. 

They had issue, one only daughter: 

Julia Roberts Rush, who was born in Philadelphia 
on the seventh of May, A. D. 1828, died on the 
sixth of July, A. D. 1834, and was buried in the 
ground of "Christ Church," near her grandfather, 
Dr. Benjamin Rush. 



262 Benjamin Rush 

Her widowed mothti died at 1630 Walnut street on 
the 27th day of June, 1877, and was buried Saturday, June 
30, in the lot of George Roberts Smith in North Laurel 
Hill Cemetery. 

"Died, 

On Sunday, the 6th inst. Julia, only daughter of Dr. William Rush, 
aged about 7 years. 

She was a child of uncommon promise, and the sorrow and 
sympathy for her loss testify the worth of the young departed, and 
the depth of the bereavement sustained by the parents and surviving 
friends : 

No bitter tears for thee be shed. 

Blossom of being! seen and gone; 
With flowers alone, we strew thy bed, 
Oh blest, departed one, — 
Whose all of life, a rosy ray. 
Blushed into dawn, and passed away. 
Thou wert so like a child of light. 

That heaven benignly called thee hence, 
Ere the cold world could shed a blight 
O'er thy sweet innocence; 
And thou, that brighter land to bless. 
Hast gone in all thy loveliness !" 

1834. 









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